Major General to head Army probe into Secunderabad armoury heist

Pune: The Army’s Southern Command has now ordered a court of inquiry into the theft last month of weapons from an infantry battalion of the Madras Regiment based in Secunderabad Cantonment, tasking a Major General-rank officer and a team of senior officers to find out how AK-203 rifles, pistols and rounds of matching ammunition were taken away allegedly by a retired havildar.Hyderabad police have a suspect in custody, identified as ex-havildar U Mallesh. The Army inquiry will primarily examine possible procedural lapses, security arrangements at the unit and the sequence of events that led to the theft, a senior Army officer told TOI.According to Hyderabad police, on the night of Aug 30, Mallesh allegedly stole 12 military-grade weapons and ammunition from the armoury. Police and Army suspect involvement of other personnel in the theft.“The Major General of the division in Pune will preside over the court of inquiry panel. He, along with other senior Army officers on the panel, will investigate the matter. They will mainly focus on procedural lapses and security arrangements at the unit. The sequence of events will also be examined,” the senior Army officer said.A team of officers from Southern Command’s Military Intelligence (MI) unit has played a crucial role in the investigation. This team, along with Telangana police, conducted an extensive probe which led to initial breakthroughs in the case.“The MI team displayed high standards of professionalism and cracked the case. What was crucial was the coordination with police. Had that not been maintained, the case would have taken more time. The MI team will also share relevant details with the inquiry panel internally,” the senior officer said.Early investigations do point to certain lapses in procedure and functioning of the unit, Army sources said.“For instance, the location of the Kote (armoury) was not appropriate, despite this being the static location of the battalion in the cantonment. Because of this, the suspect likely found it easy to remove the weapons. The road passing through the cantonment area is also open to civilian vehicles; there are no security checks. Trespassing into the campus was therefore relatively easy. This aspect should have been considered by the unit,” one Army source said, adding that internal functioning of the unit should have been robust too.“Traditionally, issues related to discontent among soldiers or retired personnel need to be resolved amicably. The adjutant and the Group/unit Subedar Major need to play a proper role in hearing grievances and resolving them,” the Army source added.Hyderabad police said this week the suspect arrested in the probe was “upset with seniors” after he was fired recently.But the incident has sparked widespread concern among members of the military community.“It’s such an important centre. But there was no adequate CCTV coverage, including at the armoury. Security needs to be improved significantly to improve the grid of the entire campus. All these factors will be investigated by Southern Command’s inquiry panel, which will also suggest corrective measures in its report,” another senior Army officer told TOI.