Retired Havaldar Upputholla Mallesh stole weapons from 20 Madras armory
A retired Army Havaldar, Upputholla Mallesh, 37, was caught for stealing high-grade weapons (including rifles, pistols, night-vision gear, and thousands of rounds of ammunition) from the 20 Madras Regiment's armory in Secunderabad.
The theft came to light when broken locks and storage boxes were found at the armory.
Joint probe recovers weapons, arrests Mallesh
Tracking Mallesh wasn't easy: a joint team of Telangana Police, Hyderabad Task Force, SOT Malkajgiri, and Military Intelligence dug through 8.5 lakh phone numbers and thoroughly interrogated personnel who had access to the armory, including quick reaction team (QRT) staff and outsourced teams.
Turns out Mallesh used a bike and then a vehicle to move the stolen gear across districts to Nagar Kurnool.
All stolen weapons have been recovered; Mallesh is now in custody, and investigators continue to probe the exact motive behind the high-security breach.