Retired Army Havildar Held for Stealing Rifles, Pistols from Bolarum Battalion

<p>A retired Indian Army havildar was arrested on Friday for allegedly stealing multiple firearms and hundreds of rounds of ammunition from the Kote and Magazine rooms of the 20 Battalion, Madras Regiment, located at Bolarum in Hyderabad.</p>
<p>The accused has been identified as Upputholla Mallesh, 37, a resident of Jangam Reddy Pally in Amrabad, Nagarkurnool district. Mallesh had enrolled in the Indian Army in 2010 and served for 16 years before retiring on June 30 this year.</p>
<p>According to Telangana Director General of Police CV Anand, Mallesh allegedly entered the battalion premises around 11 pm on the intervening night of August 30 and 31. He is accused of making off with several firearms, magazines, ammunition and a passive night-vision binocular.</p>
<p>The stolen items included four AK-203 rifles, one 5.56 mm INSAS rifle, six 9 mm pistols and a civilian 6.35-bore pistol. Police also recovered 1,156 rounds of 9 mm ammunition, 720 rounds of AK-203 ammunition, INSAS ammunition, magazines and other equipment.</p>
<p>Acting on credible information, joint teams from Bolarum police, the Hyderabad Task Force and the SOT, Malkajgiri, tracked down Mallesh and recovered all stolen arms and ammunition from locations in Kowkoor, Yapral and Achampet in Nagarkurnool district.</p>
<p>Preliminary investigation indicates that disgruntlement over his early retirement may have prompted the alleged theft, police said. Mallesh has since been arrested and remanded in judicial custody.</p>