A gang of three — a low-ranking staff member of a loan company, a small-time businessman, and a seller of plantain leaves — sat outside a tea shop after an hour-long workout in a gym at Villivakkam in Chennai on a sunny morning three years ago. An auto driver soon joined them as the conversation picked up. While sipping the tea, one of them wondered aloud about how long he could lead a life with his meagre earnings. Another replied that they should loot a bank and settle down with the wealth. He might have meant it in jest, but somehow that idea caught on. Three years later, it resulted in a bank robbery in a very crowded part of town, in broad daylight.
In retrospect, had they planned it well it might not have been one of the heists to be cracked by the police within a week.
