The Telangana police on Saturday announced seven fresh arrests, including of three serving army personnel, in connection with the theft of firearms and ammunition from the Army’s 20 Battalion of Madras Regiment, at Bollaram in Secunderabad Cantonment in the early hours of August 30.
Based on a complaint by commanding officer Lt Col Mayank Govitirkar, the police launched an investigation. He was subsequently produced before court and remanded in judicial custody. Speaking to reporters, Malkajgiri police commissioner B Sumathi identified those in custody as 36-year-old sepoy Konduri Sheshulu , 34-year-old jawan Vinod Kumar, both from Andhra Pradesh’s Markapuram district 37-year-old havildar Kucharakanthi Praveen from Gundlapottapalli, 32-year-old West Bengal resident Avi Dey, 27-year-old Birbal Shaw, who ran a sugarcane juice centre near Barrackpore Cantonment in West Bengal, 39-year-old mason Upputholla Mallikarjun and 39-year-old shop owner Chemmakar Niranjan, both from Padara in Nagarkurnool district. The prime accused and alleged mastermind of the theft Upputholla Mallesh alias Raju (37), a retired havildar of the battalion from Nagarkurnool district, was arrested on September 11. Dey was also previously involved in an Arms Act case registered at Khardah Police Station in West Bengal under Section 25(1)(B)(a) of the Arms Act.
“All these seven accused were produced before the local court, which sent them to 14-day judicial remand,” the police commissioner said. The case is pending before the Second Judicial Magistrate Court, Barrackpore, Sumathi said.
“The investigation has revealed that there are no terrorist or extremist links to the accused.
They had stolen the weapons with the intention of committing major property offences,” she said.
