CAR cop may have stolen 2 more guns: police

Purushottam Rao, the City Armed Reserve head constable accused of stealing a colleague’s 9 mm service pistol in 2006 “just for fun”, may have lifted two more firearms from the CAR armoury over the past decade.

“A 9 mm automatic carbine and another pistol, similar to the ones in possession of Purushottam, had gone missing in June 2006. This means, a total of three service weapons were stolen. We are investigating whether Purushottam is involved in all these thefts,” said DCP (West), M N Anucheth.

Investigators are also looking into Rao’s whereabouts during the time the other two firearms were stolen. Rao (53), however, is proving to be a tough nut to crack. He is trying to “evade” interrogation by citing health problems such as diabetes and other ailments, an investigating officer said.

On Thursday, Rao collapsed and “faked” a heart attack during interrogation. He was taken to a private hospital where an electrocardiogram (ECG) was performed on him. His heart was found to be normal, a senior police officer said. While in hospital, Rao was busy calling criminal lawyers through his family to file his bail application, the officer said. “We have his custody until February 27 and will interrogate him how he stole the weapon and what he did with it for all these years,” the officer added.