Bengaluru: The police investigation into the City Armed Reserve (CAR) Head Constable Purushottham Rao stealing his colleague's service pistol has revealed that he had also taken away a Carbine Machine Gun (Sten Gun) from the CAR armoury in 2006. The police, who have seized the sten gun, are not sure why he was stealing service weapons and have approached doctors at Nimhans to know the possible reason for his behaviour.
City Police Commissioner Praveen Sood said here on Saturday that it was an unusual case of a policeman stealing service weapons and stocking them, but not using them. “According to the investigation so far, he has not used the stolen weapons,” he said.
Accused Rao had picked up a quarrel with three men after finding them urinating on the compound wall of a temple on Mysuru Road. As the youth assaulted him, he had filed a complaint with the Cottonpet police. When the police picked up Annamalai on charges of assault, he revealed that he assaulted the policeman and snatched a service pistol when he was threatened at gunpoint. The police, who seized the weapon from Annamalai, grew suspicious as Rao had not reported that his service pistol had been robbed by the youth.
The police then raided Rao's house and seized a pistol that was stolen at Raj Bhavan in September 2006. "As the police intensified the probe, Rao confessed to have stolen another service weapon from the armoury at CAR Headquarters. He had stolen a 9mm Carbine Machine Gun on June 23, 2006. The theft had come to light only after a detailed stock audit of the CAR armoury in Feb. 2007 and a complaint was filed. The case was closed as the gun remained undetected, and 11 CAR constables faced action,” Sood said.
