Published Sep 11, 2026 | 8:29 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 11, 2026 | 8:29 PM
Recovered weapons and ammunition stolen from Madras Regiment on the intervening night of 30 and 31 August
Synopsis: A 10-day manhunt over a massive armoury theft in Secunderabad ended with a retired Army Havildar in custody. Police say Upputholla Mallesh exploited glaring security gaps to steal rifles, pistols and nearly 1,900 rounds of ammunition from a military facility. The entire haul was recovered, but his motive remains a mystery.
Telangana Police on Friday, 11 September, announced the arrest of a retired Army Havildar for stealing a large cache of weapons and ammunition from the armoury of the 20 Madras Regiment at Bollarum, bringing a ten-day investigation that had unsettled the Secunderabad cantonment to a close.
Addressing a press conference, Telangana Director General of Police (DGP) CV Anand identified the accused as 37-year-old Upputholla Mallesh, a native of Jangamreddy Pally in Amrabad mandal of Nagarkurnool district.
Mallesh had served with the battalion for 16 years after joining the Army in 2010, and was discharged on health and disciplinary grounds on 30 June this year.
A case has been registered under Sections 331(4) and 305 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) at Bollarum police station, and the arrested accused has been remanded to judicial custody.
A joint team of the Malkajgiri Police, the Hyderabad City Task Force, the Special Operations Team (SOT), Telangana State Intelligence, along with Army Intelligence, worked together to crack the case.
The team recovered the entire stolen consignment of four AK-203 rifles, an INSAS rifle, seven pistols including a civilian one, a night-vision device, binoculars, 21 magazines and close to 1,900 rounds of ammunition from Mallesh’s residence.
DGP Anand said no theft of this scale had ever been recorded in the area, which is why the case was taken up on priority from the outset.
DGP CV Anand and other higher officials from Telangana Police addresing a press conference with recovered weapons
The Modus Operandi of accused has raised critical questions about safety and security arrangements at the facility. Police said an Army internal review is underway.
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The theft surfaced on the morning of 31 August, when unit personnel found the locks of the Bell of Arms and the Battalion Magazine broken and their storage boxes forced open. The arms had last been accounted for around 6 PM the previous evening.
A case was registered at Bollarum police station the same day upon a complaint from the army leadership. The Secunderabad Cantonment was placed on high alert, with schools in the area advised to conduct classes online as a precaution. Meanwhile, defence units issued vigilance alerts to their personnel.
A National Investigation Agency (NIA) team visited the premises on 5 September to assist local investigators. At the time, officers noted that the armoury carried no identifying signboard, had several points of entry and exit, and stored arms and ammunition in separate rooms roughly 50 metres apart. The investigators believed from the beginning that only an insider could pull off such a feat.
During the 10-day investigation, several roads in the area were closed to civilians, causing severe congestion and long traffic delays. Simultaneously, the lack of fresh developments in the investigation put Secunderabad residents on edge.
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According to the police, an initial round of questioning of likely suspects produced no leads, so the team widened its net. It identified about 16 personnel with routine, direct access to the storage facilities – 10 who moved around the arms storage for various duties and 6 with everyday roles at the ammunition storage.
The investigators also questioned two officials in charge of the respective armouries, closely examining their phones, social media accounts, and call records, but found no evidence. The inquiry then extended to seven members of the cantonment’s quick-reaction team, seven outsourced workers such as electricians, plumbers and contractors, 34 personnel who had recently faced disciplinary action, and 54 who had gone on leave around the relevant period.
Investigators analysed call-detail records, CCTV footage, mobile forensics, fingerprint checks, and also involved a dog squad, but to no avail. The joint teams briefly examined whether the stolen arms could be linked to drug-trafficking networks or to espionage, before turning their attention to seven Army personnel who had recently been pensioned out on grounds of indiscipline or ill health.
Two of these seven stood out on closer scrutiny: a Havildar who had settled in Prakasam district was brought in, and his background checked; the other was Mallesh, discharged only two months earlier.
A team of investigators travelled to Nagarkurnool on 7 September to question him about his movements around the time of the theft. Police say he gave evasive answers, appeared visibly nervous, and had wiped his phone’s WhatsApp and call logs, all of which deepened suspicion.
Mallesh’s phone was seized, and local police were asked to keep him under watch. He avoided travelling to Hyderabad for further questioning over the following two days, until his wife and father-in-law, who were briefed on the severity of the case, persuaded him to make the trip on 10 September.
Police said he confessed to his wife during that journey upon confrontation. His father-in-law alerted the local police, who in turn informed the task force. A team of investigators recovered the hidden weapons with help from Nagarkurnool police.
Investigators said Mallesh had prepared for the theft over two nights beforehand, scouting the premises on 28 and 29 August to study the lighting, the movement of guards and vehicles, and the fact that the armoury’s CCTV cameras did not function after dark. The way he pulled it off was remarkably simple, by cruising on his Activa Scooter through the army facility with no proper checks or stops.
On the night of 30 August, he rode his scooter from his rented home in Balaji Nagar nearby and entered the cantonment through the Kargil gate at around 11 PM. He broke open the locks of the Bell of Arms and moved the weapons one at a time to a dark corner outside.
He then forced open the ammunition store with greater difficulty, the noise briefly drew a guard, who left as he couldn’t see clearly due to the lighting. Mallesh spent close to an hour there, taking ammunition to match the weapons he had already removed, before hiding the haul at a nearby temple.
He then returned a second time for magazine pouches and was stopped by a guard, but was allowed to leave after claiming to belong to the 20 Battalion of the regiment. CCTV footage placed him back at his Balaji Nagar home with the magazines at 4:34 AM. Later in the morning, he loaded the ammunition into his car and, subsequently, recovered the weapons from the temple and set off towards Nagarkurnool. He took a longer route via the Outer Ring Road and the Nagarjuna Sagar highway to avoid the tollgates and CCTV cameras on the Srisailam road.
Along the way, he picked up and dropped off unrelated passengers near Deverakonda and again close to Dindi, taking fares from them. Investigators believe this was meant to provide an explanation when his unusual route gets questioned. He reached his family’s home in Achampet in the early afternoon and hid the stolen arms and ammunition inside a haystack on the property.
Mallesh’s father, who was at home at the time, was unaware of what had happened. Nearly a week later, on 6 September, Mallesh briefly shifted the entire consignment to a friend’s vacant house nearby before moving it back to the same spot at his home. The police said they are yet to find out why he made that decision.
Police said they have not yet established a motive behind the theft. Their preliminary assessment points to Mallesh’s resentment over early and involuntary discharge from service but needs further examination.
DGP Anand said no evidence has emerged linking the theft to espionage, terrorism or international actors, and the case does not appear connected to drug trafficking either. Officials added that no other Army personnel or civilians are currently suspected of involvement, and that the Army is separately conducting a probe into the security lapses that allowed the theft to occur. With the entire stolen consignment now recovered, police said there is no continuing threat to national security.
(Edited by Fayisa CA)
