Recently, a case of government rifle and ammunition theft emerged from Mumbai, Maharashtra. A man arrived at the South Mumbai naval base, impersonated a naval officer, and relieved a junior guard from his duty. Subsequently, he absconded with a rifle and ammunition. The 22-year-old trainee, Rakesh Dubbula, and his brother were arrested by the police, who revealed that Rakesh and the complainant belonged to the same recruitment batch of 2023, as per an official update on Thursday.
The official stated, 'Following the revelation of new facts, the crime branch might also question the complainant. Meanwhile, sections of the Arms Act have been added to the case.' The police discovered that Dubbula traveled from Kochi in Kerala to Mumbai, executing the crime on September 6.
The officer detailed, 'After acquiring the rifle and magazine, the accused traveled via CSMT to Kalyan, Pune, Wadi Junction, and finally Secunderabad. With their roots in Asifabad, Telangana, investigations are underway to probe any possible connections with Naxalites.'
As of now, the police haven’t uncovered the motive behind the crime. The navy sailor-trainee, 22-year-old Rakesh Ramesh Dubbula, alongside his 25-year-old brother, Umesh Ramesh Dubbula, was apprehended in Telangana.
According to the crime branch, on September 6, Rakesh Dubbula, dressed in naval uniform, approached a resident area in Navy Nagar, where a junior naval sentry was on duty pretending to relieve him.
The unsuspecting guard handed over his rifle and ammunition to Rakesh Dubbula and left. Rakesh then discretely placed the weapons and two magazines, each containing 20 live cartridges, into a bag and tossed it over the wall to where his brother Umesh was waiting.
