BENGALURU: A 52-year-old police constable in Bengaluru has been arrested for stealing a gun from a colleague more than a decade ago. Ironically, it was an unrelated police complaint filed by the constable himself that brought the incident to light.
Posted as a gunman to guard MLC and film producer C R Manohar, constable Purushotham got into a scrap with a group of youngsters on February 17, and went to the police to lodge a complaint. Purushotham alleged he was beaten up by the youngsters after he objected to them relieving themselves in public near the Vinayaka Theatre on Mysuru Road. Purushotham was admitted to the Victoria Hospital and a complaint was filed in the Cottonpet Police Station.
In the scuffle, Purushotham was carrying a gun and one of the youngsters, Annamalai snatched it away from him. However, Purushotham did not mention the gun in his complaint, as it is prohibited for a constable to carry a gun during non-duty hours. After filing the complaint, Purushotham also produced a gun before the police -- the gun that he had stolen 11 years back -- claiming that it was his. Initially, the police did not doubt him.
It was when they arrested Annamalai that the police found that a gun had in fact been snatched from Purushotham in the scuffle. So why had not reported that his gun been snatched? And where did the gun he is presently carrying come from?
Suspecting something fishy, investigators checked the butt number of the gun presently held by Purushotham. To their surprise, they realised that the number was of a gun that had been stolen from another constable 11 years ago. Police then learnt that Purushotham had stolen a gun from his colleague in 2006 while posted at the governor’s residence, Raj Bhavan.
The gun found in the possession of Annamalai was the official service gun of Purushotham.
Investigations also revealed Purushotham threatened Annamalai with his gun when the latter did not heed his warning against urinating in public. However, Annamalai managed to snatch it away and escape from the place.
Deputy commissioner of police (west) Anucheth told media persons that Purushotham confessed that he had stolen a gun from a fellow constable, Dasharath, when he was posted to the Quick Response Team in 2006 at Raj Bhavan.
"There are other cases against Purushotham. He fired and killed a person when he was a gunman to a senior police officer. While working as gunman to a politician he fired seven rounds in the air for no reason. A departmental inquiry is still pending," he said.
Annamalai also has been arrested for snatching a gun of the police department," he said.