Mumbai: Investigation of Saturday night’s security breach at Navy Nagar in Colaba has found that the imposter in uniform who collected an INSAS rifle & 40 bullets from a sailor on guard duty in the guise of relieving him, changed into civilian clothes later, threw the weapon and ammunition across the compound wall to an accomplice outside and spent three hours inside the Navy residential area before fleeing, police said.“A probe is on to find out if there is any insider role,” a police officer said. Meanwhile, a board of inquiry has been initiated against the sailor to determine if he followed SOPs while handing over charge to the imposter who claimed to be a senior officer from the Quick Response Team, report V Narayan & Ahmed Ali. In the case of the major security breach at Navy Nagar, a CCTV camera has captured the imposter wearing a mask and dressed in civilian attire throwing the stolen INSAS rifle and 40 bullets over the compound wall at a spot at around 8 pm on Saturday. The accomplice collected it before the suspect fled.The Cuffe Parade police, who registered a case of theft, will add more stringent sections once there is more clarity on the offence. It is suspected the suspect conducted reconnaissance before carrying out the act.The incident occurred between 4.30 pm and 8 pm on Saturday, the final day of the Ganesh festival. “A probe is on to find out if there is any insider role. The suspect captured on CCTV had masked his face and changed into civilian attire soon after the 20-year-old junior sailor left for his quarters. The suspect covered his face before heading towards the wall and threw the weapon over the compound wall. CCTV cameras captured it all,” said a police officer from Cuffe Parade police station.Officials said the way the intruder was dressed, the timing of the guard change, and the confidence with which he walked into the defence area and convinced the sailor he had come as his reliever strongly points to the suspect being someone who knows the system inside out.The intruder approached the sailor, claiming to be his senior officer from the Quick Response Team (QRT), and said there was an orange alert and hence he had come to check on him. After checking the sailor’s identity and other details, the intruder asked him to leave as he was his ‘reliever.’ The sailor handed over his rifle and magazine and left for his hostel, only to reappear an hour later to realise the man was missing.Six teams from zone-1 of Mumbai police, along with other agencies, are searching for the accused. With the help of the junior sailor, the police team has created a sketch of the suspect. “The CCTV camera captured the imposter entering through the main gate with a laptop bag in which he is suspected to have carried the Navy uniform. He used some ID cards to gain access. After staying for almost three hours inside, the imposter approached the junior sailor and took his INSAS rifle and 40 bullets. He calmly entered Navy Nagar through the main gate and left without getting caught,” said the officer.A source said the junior sailor with the Navy, posted in Colaba, was among the Agniveer recruits who, after completing basic training at Odisha’s INS Chilka, were assigned to Navy Nagar a few months ago.Navy officials are also working on tightening security measures.There is a procedure for handing over a weapon at the time of change of duty, and there is no scope to hand over a weapon to any new person whose name is not in the roster, a navy officer said.In a press statement on Tuesday, the Navy said loss of a rifle along with ammunition from a sentry post was reported. “A junior sailor, whilst on sentry duty, was allegedly approached by another person in naval uniform who relieved him of his duties, indicating that he had been sent to do the same.”
