Secunderabad Cantonment Arms Heist: Ex-Havildar Had Accomplices, Deleted Phone Chats

<p>Hyderabad: The former Army Havildar arrested in connection with the Secunderabad Cantonment arms theft is suspected to have had at least three people helping him carry out the operation, police said.</p>
<p>Uppotholla Mallesh, 37, a resident of Jangam Reddy Pally in Amrabad, Nagarkurnool district, was arrested by Bollarum police on Friday, September 11, nearly a fortnight after the theft came to light. A day after his arrest, police added sections under the Arms Act and produced him before a court. He was subsequently sent to Chanchalguda Central Jail on judicial remand.</p>
<p>Authorities have noted that Mallesh deleted his phone chat history before being remanded, a move that has deepened suspicions around his alleged accomplices.</p>
<p>According to sources cited by New Indian Express, Mallesh allegedly placed some of the weapons on the footboard of his scooter and drove from the armoury to a nearby temple. He is believed to have slipped away from the temple under the cover of heavy rain late on the night of August 30.</p>
<p>Mallesh had brought an iron rod from outside the armoury, which he used to break open two locks. He first forced open the locks of one room and removed the arms. He then moved to a separate building a few metres away, identified the ammunition boxes he needed, and carried them out. Breaking the second lock alone took him close to an hour, sources said.</p>
<p>The theft went undetected because the closed-circuit television cameras in the area were not operational at the time and no one was present in the vicinity.</p>
<p>Mallesh served in the Indian Army for 16 years after joining in 2010 and retired on June 30 this year, according to a statement from the Director General of Police's office. A preliminary investigation suggests the theft was driven by resentment over his early retirement from service.</p>
<p>The stolen cache comprised four AK-203 7.62x39mm rifles with five magazines, one 5.56mm INSAS 1B1 rifle with three magazines, six 9mm Auto 1A pistols with 12 magazines, a civilian 6.35 bore pistol with magazine, and a passive night-vision binocular. Also taken were 1,156 rounds of 9mm pistol ammunition, 720 rounds of AK-203 ammunition, and 36 rounds of INSAS ammunition comprising 11 ball, five tracer and 20 blank rounds.</p>