Constable Purushotham Rao, 53, would have had little inkling that his attempt to stop three drunk men from urinating in public would end with the revelation of his decade-long lie and him landing behind bars. The constable attached to the City Armed Reserve was arrested for stealing a pistol from Raj Bhavan, which belonged to his colleague, in 2006.
On February 17, Rao was attacked by three drunk men after he objected to them urinating in public. The Cottonpet police arrested the trio and recovered a pistol from them. During questioning, the trio claimed to have snatched the pistol from the constable. Later, they dumped the .9mm fully loaded pistol in an open drain near the house of the prime accused, Annamalai. Annamalai told the police that they did not know Purushotham was a police, as he was in plain clothes. The cop had pointed the gun at them. In a bid to escape, they snatched the pistol, punched the constable and fled. On checking their records, the police found that the pistol was issued to Purushotham in 2006 when he was part of the Quick Reaction Team posted in Raj Bhavan. Purushotham claimed that his weapon was in his house.
On cross-checking, police realised that the weapon in Purushtoham’s house belonged to Dashrath Rao, another QRT constable who had been posted at Raj Bhavan in 2006. Dashrath had lost his weapon. He had filed a complaint with the police. He was suspended for negligence. A senior police officer claimed that the department withheld three increments following which Dashrath’s daughter committed suicide and his wife passed away. Dashrath is posted as Reserve Sub Inspector and is due to retire in August this year.
Upon questioning, Purushotham claimed to have stolen the pistol. He was booked under various sections of the Arms Act and arrested. “We are investigating whether he had used this weapon for illegal activities,” M.N. Anucheth, Deputy Commissioner of Police (west), said. He had opened fire twice citing a law and order problem, a senior police officer said.
