Four AK-203 Rifles and Firearms Reported Missing From Army Unit in Bollarum

Four AK-203 assault rifles, an INSAS rifle with three magazines, and several pistols have been reported missing from an Army storage facility in the Bollarum area of Secunderabad Cantonment in Hyderabad. The weapons belonged to the 20 Madras Regiment.

The theft came to light on August 31, when Army personnel discovered that the locks of the storage facility had been broken. The Bollarum police have registered a case and are investigating the incident in coordination with the Army.

The presence of the modern AK-203 rifles at a peacetime location such as Secunderabad Cantonment comes as the Indian Army carries out a phased transition to replace its ageing INSAS rifles, which entered service in the 1990s. While field formations deployed in operational and forward border areas receive priority, rifles are also distributed to units stationed in peacetime locations once initial operational requirements are met.

According to a source familiar with the process, weapons can be held by specific sub-units or specialist elements within a formation depending on the stage of induction and authorised scale. The broader transition plan involves equipping infantry units with newer weapons such as the AK-203 and the SIG 716.

The AK-203, designed by Russia’s Kalashnikov Group, is a gas-operated modern descendant of the AK-47. It fires the 7.62x39 mm cartridge using a 30-round magazine, has an aiming range of up to 800 metres, and features a rate of fire of roughly 700 rounds per minute. The rifle is primarily designed for infantry and frontline combat in close- and medium-range engagements.

India's AK-203 programme began under a 2018 inter-governmental agreement with Russia. In March 2019, the Indo-Russian Rifles Private Limited was set up at Korwa in Amethi, Uttar Pradesh, to manufacture the rifles domestically. Prior to domestic production, an initial batch of 70,000 rifles was imported from Russia, followed by 35,000 domestically produced rifles handed over to the Indian Army in 2024.