Ghaziabad man detained at Delhi airport with live cartridges

Senior police officers said that the passenger had not declared the six live bullets in his bag and failed to produce valid documents to carry them

A 43-year-old man from Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh was detained at Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport on Tuesday after six cartridges were found in his luggage during the security check at Terminal 3, the Delhi Police said on Thursday, adding that the passenger was later released.

The man told police that he carried the ammunition in his luggage by mistake, as he did not remember that the bullets were still inside the luggage while he was packing his clothes and other items in it. (Representational image)

An FIR was registered against the passenger Amrish Bishnoi. Bishnoi, a resident of Ghaziabad’s Indirapuram and a transporter by profession, even missed his flight to Dubai because of his detention for legal procedure.

Senior police officers said that the passenger had not declared the six live bullets in his bag and failed to produce valid documents to carry them. The passenger, however, possessed an all-India licence for a pistol issued by the Uttar Pradesh government, they said.

“Bishnoi told us that he carried the ammunition in his luggage by mistake, as he did not remember that the bullets were still inside the luggage while he was packing his clothes and other items in it. We detained him and later released after questioning. The bullets were seized as case property for further legal procedure,” said a senior officer, who asked not to be named.

Another police officer said that around 2am on Tuesday, the security personnel deployed at the baggage scanner machine at level 2 found an image of cartridges on the machine and it was referred for physical check at level 4. After the owner was identified, the luggage was physically checked in the presence of the passenger and senior security officers. Six live bullets were found inside, and they were seized and handed over to the IGI Airport police.

“We registered a case and seized the ammunition,” the officer added.