The theft of 12 weapons, over 1,000 rounds of ammunition and a pair of passive night-vision binoculars from the high-security Secunderabad Cantonment near Hyderabad in Telangana was likely an inside job, has learnt.

According to police sources, the theft of four AK-203 assault rifles, seven pistols, an INSAS rifle, the ammunition and the binoculars could have occurred within a 12-hour window from 6 pm on August 30 to 6 am on August 31. The theft was detected when the kote – armoury – and the ammunition storage were opened and the door locks were found broken.

“It’s most definitely an inside job,” a Telangana police officer who is part of the investigation said.

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The police suspect a section of defence personnel with access to the kote of being behind it. For this, sources cite three reasons – that the armoury is guarded around the clock, that there were Army guards at the time of the theft, and that the guards didn’t sound the manual alarm.

“We have so far questioned some defence personnel in connection with the case. We are questioning why the guards did not notice the crime or why they were feigning ignorance,” a police officer said.

Among those questioned are some old-timers and young personnel, the officer said.

“Vehicles had gone in and out of the cantonment during this 12-hour period,” a source said. “A complaint was lodged with the police because it is suspected that the arms have left the cantonment and are with unauthorised personnel,” a source said.

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The arms were allegedly stolen from a store room on the premises of the 20 Madras Regiment. The incident came to light around 7:50 am on Monday. A case for trespass and theft of government property was registered under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

Major Probal DasGupta, an Army veteran, author, and strategic commentator, called it a “serious, unusual issue”.

“Given the information currently available, chances of an external break-in, without the theft being noticed until the next morning, are remote since the armoury is heavily guarded at all times. The Army has laid down procedures for issue and return of weapons from the kote. Going by its past practice, the Army is expected to take this theft seriously. We expect information on this to be known clearly after the inquiry,” he told .