Bollaram arms theft: 7 more, including 3 serving army persons arrested

Hyderabad: Telangana police have arrested seven more people, including three serving army personnel, in connection with theft of arms and ammunition from the Madras Regiment's 20th Battalion in the high-security Secunderabad cantonment area at Bollaram that came to light on August 31.

The arrests come nearly 20 days after police arrested Upputholla Mallesh, a retired havildar, on September 11.

Malkajgiri Police Commissioner B Sumathi said on Saturday that Mallesh and the others had planned to commit robberies and thefts, using the stolen weapons to threaten their victims. Mallesh had also tried to sell some of the weapons to contacts in West Bengal.

Police said Mallesh was facing financial difficulties and already had two burglary cases registered against him in Telangana.

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Along with his cousin, he allegedly planned to rob banks, jewellery shops and wealthy individuals using firearms.

The three serving army personnel arrested are Konduri Sheshulu, 26, a sepoy; Vinod Kumar, 34, a naik; and Kucharakanthi Praveen, 37, a havildar. Sheshulu and Vinod Kumar are from Markapuram in Andhra Pradesh, while Praveen is from Gundlapottapalli in Mahabubnagar district, Telangana.

The other four are Avi Dey alias Obi, 27, of Barrackpore in West Bengal; Birbal Shaw, 27, who ran a sugarcane juice stall near the Barrackpore cantonment; Mallesh's cousin Upputholla Mallikarjun, 39, a mason from Padara in Nagarkurnool district; and Chemmakar Niranjan, 39, a grocery shop owner from the same area.

According to police, Mallesh hatched the plan with Mallikarjun and Niranjan, both of whom were also in financial trouble. They decided to use firearms and procure them from Dey and Shaw, who had sold Mallesh a country-made pistol (tapancha) in 2022.

When Dey asked for time, Mallesh turned to his former colleagues Sheshulu, Vinod Kumar and Praveen, who served in the 16th Battalion of the Madras Regiment. They agreed to help steal weapons from the army.

Mallesh then told Dey and Shaw that he wanted to steal army arms. Dey agreed to buy pistols at Rs 3 lakh each and long weapons at Rs 5 lakh each, and to pay a good price for ammunition. With the three serving personnel's help, Mallesh broke open the locks of the armoury and magazine and stole the arms and ammunition.

During interrogation, Mallesh confessed that he met Shaw in 2022 when his battalion was posted at Barrackpore, and became close to him.

Through Shaw, he bought a tapancha and one live round from Dey for Rs 10,000. Having a criminal record and a taste for a lavish lifestyle, he had planned to extort money from passers-by. He kept the weapon on the first floor of his father's house at Sai Nagar Colony in Achampet but never used it in any offence. He showed it to his friend and batchmate Praveen.

Dey and Shaw admitted that Mallesh had approached them about stealing army weapons and that they had agreed to buy them. Dey was previously involved in cases under the Arms Act in West Bengal. One case against him is pending trial before the Second Judicial Magistrate Court in Barrackpore.

"Mallesh committed the offence with the help of other accused, with an intention to commit huge property offences. No terrorist or extremist connections have been noticed," Sumathi said.

Mallesh, the first accused, was arrested and sent to judicial remand on September 11. The other seven accused were arrested and were being produced before the court for remand on Saturday.