The Telangana police on Saturday arrested seven more persons, including three serving Army personnel, in connection with the theft of firearms and ammunition from the Army’s 20 Battalion of the Madras Regiment at Bollaram in Secunderabad Cantonment in the early hours of August 31.
Based on a complaint filed by battalion commanding officer Lt Col Mayank Govitirkar with the Bollaram police on the same evening, stating that several sophisticated firearms and a large quantity of ammunition were missing, the police launched an investigation. The police recovered the stolen weapons and ammunition concealed at his father’s residence in Sai Nagar Colony, Achampet. He was subsequently produced before a court and remanded in judicial custody.
Malkajgiri police commissioner B Sumathi said that while the prime accused, Upputholla Mallesh alias Raju (37), a retired havildar of the battalion and a native of Udumelli village, Padara mandal, Nagarkurnool, was arrested on September 11, the remaining seven were arrested on Saturday. The arrested are identified as: Konduri Sheshulu (A2), 36, a sepoy, and Vinod Kumar (A3), 34, a jawan, both natives of Markapuram district in Andhra Pradesh; Kucharakanthi Praveen (A4), 37, a havildar and native of Gundlapottapalli, Rajapur, Mahabubnagar; Avi Dey alias Obi (A5), 32, a resident of Barrackpore, West Bengal; Birbal Shaw (A6), 27, who runs a sugarcane juice centre near Barrackpore Cantonment; Upputholla Mallikarjun (A7), 39, a mason; and Chemmakar Niranjan (A8), 39, a general store owner, both from Padara, Nagarkurnool. The investigation led the police to arrest Mallesh on September 11. Avi Dey alias Obi 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.
Sumathi said the accused allegedly planned to use the stolen weapons to carry out robberies targeting banks, jewellery shops and wealthy individuals. They had stolen the weapons with the intention of committing major property offences,” she said.
