Navy man, brother held in Telangana after fleeing with sailor's rifle, ammunition from Mumbai

Police have nabbed two brothers, one of them serving as an Agniveer, from Telangana in connection with the theft of a rifle and two magazines containing 40 live cartridges from Mumbai's high-security Navy Nagar area, an official said on Wednesday.

The Mumbai police's Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU) apprehended Rakesh Ramesh Dubbula (22), an Agniveer (seaman) in the Navy, and his brother Umesh Ramesh Dubbula (25), from Asifabad district in Telangana on Tuesday night, said the official.

According to the crime branch official, on Saturday night (September 6), Rakesh Dubbula, dressed in a naval uniform, approached a junior sailor on sentry duty in a residential area in Navy Nagar in south Mumbai and pretended to have come to relieve him.

The unsuspecting sailor gave his rifle and ammunition to Rakesh Dubbula. After some time, he put the weapon and two magazines containing 20 live rounds each in a bag and threw it on the other side of a wall where his brother Umesh was standing, stated the official.

Both brothers fled the spot and reached Mumbai LTT station, where they boarded a train to Telangana. After going through multiple CCTV footage, a Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU) team traced the duo to Asifabad district and apprehended them, he said.

During probe, police found that Rakesh Dubbula, who has completed Class XII, had worked in naval areas and was well aware of security in such localities. His brother is a school dropout, according to the official.

The police team is bringing the duo to Mumbai for further interrogation and to establish the motive behind the crime, he stated.

The stolen rifle, two magazines with 40 live cartridges and an empty magazine were recovered from their possession, the official added.