2 men, posing as officers, steal rifles from army cantonment in Madhya Pradesh

The police said the two accused were wearing track suits and caps. One of them sported a beard.

Two unidentified men posing as Army officers stole two INSAS rifles and cartridges from two Army personnel from cantonment area in Pachmarhi, more than 200 kilometres southeast of state capital Bhopal, the police said. The incident happened on Thursday night.

The man (in black shirt) who posed as an Army officer and fled with two INSAS assault rifles belonging to the sentries guarding the Army Education Corps (AEC) Training Centre in Pachmari, on Dec 5 night , was caught on CCTV of a restaurant later. (ANI / Twitter)

According to the police, the Army personnel were on duty at an Army Education Centre when the two men reached there. They introduced themselves as Army officers, engaged the personnel in talks and then decamped with the INSAS rifles and 20 live cartridges. The accused got into a taxi and drove away before the Army personnel could realise that their rifles had been stolen.

Hoshangabad Superintendent of Police ML Chhari said, “An FIR against unidentified persons has been lodged with Pachmarhi police station. Checking is being carried out at several places. Since the two were dropped by the taxi at the railway station (Piparia) we have alerted the railways too to keep a watch on people travelling by trains to track down the criminals. However, no arrest has been made so far in this connection.”

As per another police officer who didn’t want to be quoted, the taxi driver has been detained and is being questioned. He told the police that the accused were speaking in Punjabi and while returning they carried bags on their shoulders, which looked likes bags which are used for carrying cricket bats.

The officer also said that the police is also probing if this is an act of any terror group.

(With input from Jitendra Verma in Hoshangabad)