Three soldiers among seven more held in Bolarum arms theft; police say weapons were meant for a string of robberies

The theft of military weapons from the Madras Regiment premises at Bolarum, Secunderabad Cantonment, was allegedly part of a wider plot to rob banks, jewellery shops and wealthy individuals, police said on Saturday (October 3, 2026), marking a significant turn in the investigation after arrested former Havaldar Upputholla Mallesh had initially claimed that he acted alone.

Seven more persons, including three serving Army personnel, were arrested in the case. The Malkajgiri Police said 37-year-old Mallesh, a retired Havaldar of the 20 Battalion, Madras Regiment, allegedly planned the theft with the others and explored selling the stolen military weapons to contacts in West Bengal.

The three serving Army personnel arrested are 36-year-old Konduri Sheshulu, a Sepoy; 34-year-old Vinod Kumar, a Naik, and 37-year-old Kucharakanthi Praveen, a Havaldar.

While Sheshulu and Vinod Kumar are from Markapuram in Andhra Pradesh, Praveen is from Gundlapottapalli in Mahabubnagar district, Telangana.

Accused civilians from WB and Telangana

The four civilian accused are 32-year-old Avi Dey alias Obi of Barrackpore in West Bengal, 27-year-old Birbal Shaw, who ran a sugarcane juice centre near Barrackpore Cantonment, Mallesh’s 39-year-old cousin Upputholla Mallikarjun, a mason from Padara in Nagarkurnool district, and 39-year-old Chemmakar Niranjan, a kirana shop owner from the same area.

According to B. Sumathi, Malkajgiri Police Commissioner, Mallesh initially hatched a plan with his cousin Mallikarjun and friend Niranjan — who faced financial problems — to rob banks, jewellery shops and wealthy persons. The group allegedly intended to use firearms to carry out the robberies.