Accused Agniveer in Navy rifle theft case, complainant from same batch: Police

Mumbai, Sep 12 (PTI) Agniveer Rakesh Dubbula, accused of stealing an INSAS rifle and magazines from Navy Nagar in south Mumbai with his brother, and the complainant were batchmates, an official has said.

Both were recruited in 2023, the Mumbai Crime Branch official said on Thursday.

“With new facts emerging in the case, the Crime Branch is likely to make inquiries with the complainant as well. Meanwhile, Arms Act sections have been added to the case,” the official said.

The police have found that 22-year-old Dubbula had travelled from Kochi in Kerala to Mumbai, the official said, adding the two accused carried out the crime on September 6.

“After stealing the rifle and magazines, the accused persons went to CSMT, from where they went to Kalyan, Pune, Wadi junction and Secunderabad. The duo is from Asifabad in Telangana, and an investigation is also underway to ascertain if they have links to Naxalites,” he said.

Police are yet to find out the motive behind the crime, the official added.

Rakesh Ramesh Dubbula, an Agniveer (seaman) in the Navy, and his brother Umesh Ramesh Dubbula (25) were nabbed from Telangana.

As per the Crime Branch, on September 6, Rakesh Dubbula, dressed in a naval uniform, approached a junior sailor on sentry duty in a residential area in Navy Nagar and pretended to have come to relieve him.

The unsuspecting sailor gave his rifle and ammunition to Rakesh Dubbula, who, after some time, put the weapon and two magazines, with 20 live cartridges each, in a bag and threw it on the other side of a wall where his brother Umesh was standing. PTI DC BNM NR