Pune: 7 Pistols Stolen from Police Station: How Did a Man Get Into Bund Garden’s Muddemal Room to Steal Seized Items?

Pune, 2nd September 2026: A police station, seven pistols, beer bottles and a homeless man who allegedly walked into a property room and walked out with firearms — the bizarre theft at Bund Garden police station has raised questions over security arrangements at a facility meant to be among the city’s most secure premises.

The accused, Rakeshkumar Sanjaykumar Chitker, a native of Kalaburagi in Karnataka, allegedly entered the police station premises on Saturday on the pretext of collecting garbage. What happened next has left investigators examining not just the theft, but how easily a man managed to gain access to the station’s muddemal (property) room in the first place.

Police said Chitker forced open the door of the property room, where seized articles were stored. He allegedly drank beer kept inside the room from seized items and then took away seven pistols in a bag. The question now facing the police is how the room containing seized firearms could be accessed so easily — and why a person who entered the premises to collect garbage was able to get close enough to both liquor and weapons.

The pistols were not ordinary articles. They had been seized by the crime branch in 2022 and were being kept in the muddemal room for safekeeping. Their removal from a police station has therefore raised concerns over the security of seized firearms and the system governing access to police property rooms.

After stealing the weapons, Chitker reportedly wandered around the city with the bag for several hours before abandoning it on a footpath near the General Post Office. CCTV footage helped police trace the bag after investigators spotted a person picking it up near a tree close to the Central Building. All seven pistols were subsequently recovered.

During interrogation, Chitker allegedly admitted to the theft.

While the firearms were eventually recovered without any reported use in a crime, the incident has put the security of police stations and their property rooms under scrutiny.

Pune police have ordered an inquiry into the security lapse. The investigation is expected to examine access to the muddemal room, security arrangements at the station and the procedures followed for storing and safeguarding seized firearms.