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Journalism of Courage
The Mumbai Crime Branch has found that the arrested accused in the Navy Nagar INSAS rifle theft case Agniveer Rakesh Dubbula (22), and the complainant Alok Singh, were both recruited into the Army from the same batch in 2023. According to officials, the two knew each other and police also found photographs of them together.
Rakesh’s brother, Ramesh Dubbula, is also an arrested accused in the case.
However, while filing the complaint, Singh claimed he did not know the person who approached him to relieve him from duty on September 6, took his INSAS rifle and magazines, and claimed to have been sent by the complainant’s seniors.
During the inquiry, the police found contradictions in Singh’s statements, particularly his claim that he later realised he had forgotten his wristwatch at the duty post and, when he returned to collect it, discovered the person had fled with his rifle.
Singh was being questioned for the last two days as police attempted to establish the sequence of events.
In addition to the Mumbai Police, agencies including the National Investigation Agency (NIA), Intelligence Bureau (IB), and a senior officer from the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) joined the investigation. They were also questioning Rakesh and his elder brother Umesh Dubbula, as they both hailed from a Naxal-affected village in Telangana.
Police said a photo was found on Umesh’s mobile phone that had been set as his display picture, in which he was seen holding an assault rifle. The agencies are now investigating whether Umesh has any links with Naxal groups.
However, Kantilal Patil, Superintendent of Police of Kumuram Bheem Asifabad district in Telangana, told The Indian Express, “Umesh does not have any past criminal record nor has he come under the police radar for his link with Naxal group.”
A police officer stated that some members of the same village had earlier been part of a Naxal group and surrendered to the police.
The exact motive behind the rifle theft remained unclear. Police said the accused were not cooperating during the investigation. Additionally, Umesh’s phone call records revealed frequent communication with a constable at a police station in his native place.
The Crime Branch said they were probing the case from all possible angles, but no concrete evidence has found showing Umesh has links with a Naxal group.
During the raid conducted on September 9, police arrested Rakesh and Umesh from their residence in Kumuram Bheem Asifabad district.
“When they raided the accused’s place on September 9 and nabbed Umesh, his father fled the house under the assumption that the raid was connected to his illegal hootch selling. Rakesh was found sleeping in another room. The rifle and magazines were recovered from their premises,” an officer said.
Rakesh Ramesh Dubbula (22) and Umesh Ramesh Dubbula (25) were arrested on September 9. Police allege the duo escaped with an INSAS rifle and three magazines—one blank and two containing 40 live cartridges—after duping a sailor on sentry duty on Saturday night.
Rakesh had completed his higher secondary education in his hometown and joined the Armed Forces in 2023 as an Agniveer — a member of the Armed Forces recruited under the Agnipath scheme, a government initiative for a four-year short-term service period.
He was posted in the Navy Nagar area of Mumbai from August 2024 to February 2025, primarily assigned to sentry duty, and was currently posted in Kochi.
His elder brother, Umesh, who is married and has one child, had completed secondary school education and was running a hootch shop along with their father in their village, according to police.
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