Police rule out terror angle, say brothers stole INSAS rifle for extortion, local theft

An official said, “After the investigation by various agencies several times, we have concluded that the brothers wanted the rifle to make money out of extortion and local theft. It was the elder brother Umesh Dubbula (25) who ran a local toddy shop in Kumuram Bheem, Asifabad, a Naxal-affected region of Telangana, who prevailed on his younger brother. Umesh had several local enemies and was also looking for ways to get money. He felt that an INSAS rifle would scare local tendu leaf farmers to cough up extortion money and also keep other rivals in check.”

The official said that while earlier the younger brother was not onboard, the elder brother convinced him following which the younger brother agreed. Rakesh told his elder brother that they used INSAS rifles while on sentry duty. Since he was posted in Kochi, they decided to steal the rifle from Navy Nagar in Mumbai.

“Since he was earlier posted here, he knew the security. In fact, for 15 days, he was on sentry duty at the exact spot from where they decided to steal the rifle,” the official said.

The officer said that based on questioning of surrendered Naxals from Asifabad, they ruled out any Naxal angle to the incident. Police were also checking the antecedents of Alok Singh and whether he had spoken to Rakesh in the past but they did not find any links regarding the same.

“Based on our investigation, it emerges that Umesh was desperate to have some influence in Asifabad and hatched the conspiracy with his younger brother. No terror angle has emerged,” the official added.

On September 6, INSAS rifle along with 40 rounds were stolen from Navy Nagar in South Mumbai. Rakesh and Umesh were arrested on September 9 from their home in Telangana.

Rakesh, who completed his higher secondary education in Telangana, joined the armed forces in 2023 under the Agnipath scheme, a government initiative for a four-year short-term service in the military. He was posted at Navy Nagar in Mumbai from August 2024 to February 2025 and was later stationed in Kochi. The two are in judicial custody.