The Telangana Police have detained a retired army officer and two accomplices in connection with the August 30 theft of firearms from a Madras Regiment armoury at Bolarum in the Secunderabad cantonment area, officials said on Friday.
The breakthrough follows a multi-agency probe involving the Bolarum and Malkajgiri police, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), and military intelligence. Stolen weapons and ammunition were subsequently recovered from a location in Hyderabad. After initial internal inquiry, the authorities lodged a complaint with the Bolarum police. Police teams are now verifying the recovered hardware to ensure all missing items are accounted for. Multi-agency investigators are also probing the ultimate motive behind the theft, including the planned destination of the stolen weapons.
The incident that came to light on August 31 morning involved the theft of 12 rifles, 21 magazines, a night-vision binoculars and 1,912 rounds of ammunition.
A joint team searched the retired officer’s residence in Mahabubnagar late Thursday night, according to a senior Malkajgiri police official. The miscreants broke open the locks and boxes containing weapons and ammunition at “Kote and Battalion Magazine” (ammunition storage) at Bolarum.
