Bolarum arms theft: Seven more arrested as army robbery plot is uncovered

Seven more people, including three serving soldiers and two alleged arms dealers, have been arrested in connection with the theft of military firearms from an army armoury in Bolarum.

Investigators say the heist was part of a larger plot hatched by a cash-strapped retired soldier who shared bank robbery videos with his accomplices to train them for a planned crime spree.

Inside the armoury heist

The theft occurred on the night of 30 August 2026 at the Bolarum premises of the Madras Regiment's 20th Battalion. The scale of the theft only became clear the next morning when officers found the locks of the weapons storehouse, known as the Kote, and the magazine room broken open.

Missing from the armoury were four AK-203 rifles, an INSAS rifle, six 9mm pistols, a civilian pistol, and large quantities of ammunition.

The prime suspect, Upputholla Mallesh, a 37-year-old retired Havildar, was arrested on 11 September. However, a ten-day period in police custody revealed he did not act alone. Malkajgiri Police Commissioner B. Sumathi announced that Mallesh had systematically recruited active-duty soldiers and civilian contacts to execute the theft and distribute the weapons.

The robbery videos and the motive

Mallesh, who retired after a 16-year career, had reportedly run out of money after building a house and buying property in Nagarkurnool. Desperate for cash, he decided to turn to armed robbery.

Before targeting the military armoury, Mallesh tried to plan robberies of banks, jewellery shops, and wealthy individuals with his cousin, Upputholla Mallikarjun, and a friend, Chemmakar Niranjan. To prepare them, Mallesh shared videos and web series depicting sophisticated bank heists, urging them to study the techniques.

When his initial plan to buy illegal handguns from dealers in West Bengal fell through due to a two-month delay, Mallesh decided to steal high-calibre weapons from his former unit instead.

Active soldiers as accomplices

Mallesh used his military contacts to bypass security. Police say he recruited sepoy Konduri Sheshulu, Havildar Kucharakanti Praveen, and Naik Vinod Kumar, the armoury in-charge. Vinod allegedly accepted a bribe of Rs 1 lakh, delivered to him on a football ground, to assist with the heist.

The plotters took advantage of broken CCTV cameras, disabling the remaining ones a week before the theft. On the night of the crime, Mallesh sprayed foam over the cameras while Praveen and Sheshulu turned off the lights and distracted other personnel. Mallesh spent 90 minutes moving the weapons to a two-wheeler and then a car.

The West Bengal connection

With the military weapons in his possession, Mallesh contacted Birbal Shaw and Avi Dey, also known as Obi, two West Bengal arms dealers he had met while stationed in Barrackpore in 2022. Dey allegedly agreed to buy the stolen weapons, offering Rs 3 lakh for each pistol and Rs 5 lakh for each automatic rifle.

While police are still investigating whether Shaw and Dey run a larger national smuggling network, Commissioner Sumathi clarified that no terrorist or extremist links have been found in the case. The seven newly arrested suspects have been sent to judicial custody.