New Delhi: In a major security breach, four AK-203 assault rifles, six 9 mm pistols and an INSAS rifle along with ammunition were stolen from the armoury of the Indian Army’s Madras Regiment in Secunderabad Sunday evening.
The Malkajgiri Police Commissionerate has detained four Agniveers from the premises for questioning after an FIR was registered Monday, based on a complaint from the Indian Army. The case was lodged under sections including 331(4) (lurking house-trespass or house-breaking) and 305 (theft in special protected places) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, it is learnt.
However, officials maintained that they have been rounded up only for questioning on grounds of suspicion and no formal arrests have been made yet.
Apart from the arms, the Army informed the police that around 1,800 rounds of ammunition and 21 magazines were missing from the armoury, putting the entire Bollarum cantonment region in Secunderabad on high alert. Nearly 700 of those missing rounds were of AK-203 rifles.
A statement from Malkajgiri Police Commissioner B. Sumathi is awaited regarding the status of the probe into this case.
According to the sources in the police, army personnel posted with the 20 Madras Regiment alerted the police that around a dozen weapons had gone missing from the armoury.
The armoury was last checked and accounted for on Sunday evening. However, on Monday morning, army personnel assigned to oversee arms and ammunition at the Bollarum premises found that the locks of the boxes carrying the weapons and ammo had been forcefully opened.
Sources said all CCTV cameras in the premises were being checked.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)