Prism Pub shooting incident: Hyderabad police recover third weapon from accused’s hideout

Hyderabad: After nabbing the most wanted criminal, who opened fire on officers at Prism Pub in Gachibowli on Saturday night, the Telangana Police launched an investigation into the case.

During the probe, the investigators found that the notorious burglar Bhatula Prabhakar was sharing a room with a techie in the city. Shockingly, the search party recovered a third country-made weapon in the same room.

Following a dramatic capture at the pub, the police personnel nabbed Prabhakar and confiscated two firearms and 23 bullets from his possession. The probe revealed that the accused criminal had sourced these firearms with the assistance of a contact in Bihar. He reportedly told the investigators that he wanted to take revenge against a former co-prisoner from Vizag central prison. The police are verifying this claim.

The investigation also revealed that Prabhakar was using mobile phones registered under the name of two women. He committed several burglaries in the engineering colleges. The police first took notice of his criminal activities while investigating the theft incidents reported at educational institutions in Moinabad.

The forensic analysis of fingerprints and CCTV footage at the educational institutions confirmed that the suspect was Bathula Prabhakar, a notorious criminal who had been absconding since 2023.

Last night, Prabhakar opened two rounds of fire at the police team which had gone to the Prism Pub to arrest him. The first bullet struck a head constable Venkatram Reddy in the thigh and the second one hit a bouncer at the pub. Both were rushed to the hospital where they are currently undergoing treatment.

The 29-year-old Bathula Prabhakar, a native of Chittoor district, was first arrested by the police in Vizag in 2020. A total of 80 cases are pending against him across the two Telugu states.