Retired Army man stole AK-203 rifles, pistols and 1,900 rounds from Hyderabad unit
Hyderabad police have arrested a retired Army Havildar for stealing firearms and nearly 1,900 rounds of ammunition from the Kote and Magazine rooms of the 20 Battalion, Madras Regiment, located in the high-security military area of Bollarum in Secunderabad Cantonment, Hyderabad. Police identified the accused as Upputholla Mallesh, 37.
Mallesh, who joined the Army in 2010 and retired on June 30, 2026, carried out the theft on the intervening night of August 30 and 31. Police said his preliminary motive was disgruntlement over his early retirement.
The stolen cache included four AK-203 rifles, one INSAS rifle, seven pistols, magazines, a passive night-vision binocular and nearly 1,900 rounds of ammunition.#WATCH | Hyderabad, Telangana: Police arrested Upputholla Mallesh (37), a retired Havildar of the 20 Battalion, Madras Regiment, for stealing firearms and ammunition from the unit’s Kote and Magazine rooms.Mallesh, who joined the Army in 2010 and retired on June 30, 2026, pic.twitter.com/P2epJkeFPW— ANI (@ANI) September 11, 2026HOW MALLESH MOVED THE STOLEN ARMS
According to Telangana DGP CV Anand, Mallesh entered the unit again and took the magazine covers before returning to his house in Balaji Nagar. CCTV footage showed him reaching home at 4:34 am.
He then placed the magazine bag in a white Brezza car that he owns. From there, he drove to a temple where he had left the stolen firearms and ammunition, loaded the entire cache into the car and began his journey towards Achampet.
Police said Mallesh used the Outer Ring Road, Sagar Ring Road and Bangalore Gate Road, while avoiding the Srisailam Road to evade toll gates. #WATCH | Hyderabad, Telangana DGP CV Anand says, "...Again, he entered and took those magazine covers, and he went back to his house in Balaji Nagar. He reached there at 4:34 a.m., as could be made out from the CCTV footage. He put the magazine bag in a white Brezza car, which he https://t.co/Xyzc5dO53u pic.twitter.com/uhSDUuoWPZ— ANI (@ANI) September 11, 2026HE HIRED PASSENGERS DURING JOURNEY
During the journey, Mallesh hired passengers in an attempt to create evidence showing that he had travelled towards Achampet for other work.
According to DGP Anand, after being removed from the job, Mallesh had been taking passengers in his car to earn a livelihood. He picked up four people near the Sagar Ring Road taxi point, dropped them at Devarakonda and took payment from them.
He then picked up two more passengers at Dindi, collected payment from them and dropped them further ahead.
Mallesh reached Achampet at around 1:15 pm on August 31, according to the police account.STOLEN ARMS RECOVERED
As suspicion around Mallesh grew, he allegedly became nervous and shifted the entire consignment on September 6.
Police said Mallesh eventually confessed on September 10. Following his confession, teams from the Hyderabad Task Force, led by the DCP, recovered the entire stolen cache.
DGP CV Anand said the police were still investigating the motivation and intention behind the theft, adding that further investigation was required.- EndsWith Agency inputsPublished By: Tanu jainPublished On: Sep 11, 2026 23:34 IST
