Hyderabad: Malkajgiri police arrested seven more people in the Bollarum Army weapons theft case, taking the total number of arrests to eight. Malkajgiri Commissioner of Police B. Sumathi said the arrests followed the questioning of prime accused Upputholla Mallesh alias Raju. Mallesh was a retired Army Havildar.
Police identified the seven as Konduri Sheshulu, Vinod Kumar, Kucharakanti Praveen, Avi Dey alias Obi and Birbal Shaw. Upputholla Mallikarjun and Chemmakar Niranjan were also among those arrested.
Meanwhile, police said Sheshulu, Vinod Kumar and Praveen were serving Army personnel. They allegedly helped Mallesh steal arms and ammunition from the Army Kote and Magazine at Bollarum.
The probe found that Mallesh and his associates had allegedly planned robberies with the stolen guns. Police said banks and jewellery shops were among the planned targets. In addition, wealthy people were allegedly on their target list.
Bollarum Army weapons theft probe widens
Police said the stolen guns were allegedly meant for sale to Avi Dey and Birbal Shaw in West Bengal. The two had allegedly agreed to pay Rs 3 lakh for each pistol. They had also agreed to pay Rs 5 lakh for each long weapon. In addition, police said separate payment had been agreed for the ammunition.
However, police said they had found no terrorist or extremist links in the Bollarum Army weapons theft case so far. The theft was reported on August 31. It involved four AK-203 rifles and one INSAS rifle. The stolen items also included six 9mm pistols and one civil pistol.
Further, three binoculars and more than 1,900 rounds of ammunition were taken. Police later recovered the stolen arms and ammunition. Earlier, Mallesh had bought a country-made firearm from Avi Dey through Birbal Shaw in 2022, police said. At the time, his battalion was posted at Barrackpore in West Bengal.
Police said the seven newly arrested accused would be produced before a court for judicial remand on Saturday. The arrests followed further questioning in the Bollarum Army weapons theft case. Police said the probe had covered the theft, the alleged robbery plan and the proposed sale of the weapons.