Ex-Havildar Held for Stealing Weapons from Hyderabad Army Facility
The police recovered the stolen weapons and ammunition intact
Hyderabad: A pensioned out Havildar U Mallesh alias Raju was arrested by the Telangana police in connection with the theft of service weapons and ammunition from Kote and Magazine of 20 Bn, Madras Regiment under Bollarum police station limits on Friday.
Raju (37) hailing from Jangareddypally of Amrabad in Nagarkurnool was removed from service on the grounds of indiscipline and health reasons on June 30. He worked as Havildar at 20 Battalion, Madras Regiment.
The police recovered the stolen weapons and ammunition intact. As he is constructing a new house at Jangareddypally, he and his family started staying in a rented house on Balajinagar in the Secunderabad Cantonment Area.
Addressing a press conference here, Director-General of Police CV Anand said that after stealing weapons, Raju shifted the weapons to his native place and hid it covering with whatever material available.
He said the investigation agencies shortlisted several people to zero in on two persons – one Havildar from Prakasam district and Raju. Anand said, “It appears that Raju committed the offence out of anger after removing him from service.”
“As we earlier suspected, there is no international connection to it,” he said, adding that the detection of a case brought a major relief for everyone. Taking advantage of darkness on the premises, he managed to enter the area and stole weapons and ammunition.
Asked about any failure in the security at the army facility, he refused to comment on it saying that it is not in their purview. Raju got access into the area as he belongs to the Madras regiment, Anand said adding that a detailed investigation would continue to establish whether Raju was having any links with others.
