Police crack Secunderabad armoury heist

In a major breakthrough in the Madras Regiment arms theft case, Telangana Police have recovered the stolen arms and ammunition and taken into custody four suspects including a retired Army officer.

A joint team of Telangana Counter Intelligence Cell, Hyderabad Task Force and Malkajgiri Police cracked the case after an 11-day hunt.

The theft, reported on August 31, involved 12 firearms, 21 magazines, night-vision equipment and over 1,900 rounds of ammunition from the regiment’s facility at Bollaram in Secunderabad Cantonment.

According to police, those taken into custody include a retired Army officer who is suspected of plotting the theft over a grudge against a former Commanding Officer.

The investigators were questioning the suspects about their roles in stealing, transporting and concealing the weapons.

The stolen weapons and ammunition were recovered from Nagarkurnool district of Telangana. It was immediately not clear if the entire cache of stolen arms has been recovered.

Army officials were verifying the firearms, ammunition and other recovered articles against the armoury’s inventory.

Details of the case are likely to be announced by the authorities later.

Twelve firearms, including four AK-203 assault rifles, an INSAS rifle, six 9 mm pistols and a civilian 6.35-bore pistol, were reported missing from the Madras Regiment premises at Bollarum. A passive night-vision binocular, 21 magazines and more than 1,800 rounds of ammunition were also reportedly missing from the Army establishment.

The theft came to light on the morning of August 31, when Army personnel opened the Kote and Battalion Magazine, where weapons and ammunition were stored. They found that the locks of the premises and the boxes containing the weapons, control stores and ammunition had been broken.

A First Information Report registered with Bollarum Police Station of Malkajgiri Commissionerate stated that the weapons and ammunition had last been physically accounted for at about 6 p.m. on August 30, before the Kote and Battalion Magazine were closed.

A case was registered under Sections 331(4) and 305 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

Army officials had ordered an internal enquiry and questioned guard-duty personnel who were on duty when the weapons went missing. Military Intelligence also investigated the case in coordination with the police.