Man arrested with 7 cartridges at IGI airport

A 41-year-old man was arrested after seven cartridges were found in his hand baggage during a security check at Terminal-3 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi, police said on Wednesday.

The man has been identified as Kalathiya Rajeshbhai, a resident of Surat in Gujarat. He works as a labour contractor and was travelling from Delhi to Ahmedabad, they said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (IGI Airport) Rajeev Ranjan said five live and two empty cartridges were recovered from the passenger during pre-embarkation security check at IGI's T-3 by the Central Industrial Security Force on Tuesday.

"During questioning, he produced his arms licence and asserted that the ammunition recovered from his hand baggage actually belongs to his licensed weapon and he was not conscious about the presence of rounds in his bag," he said.

A case has been registered against him under sections of the Arms act since the arms license produced by him is valid only for the state of Gujarat, he said.

A total of 51 such cases under Arms Act have been registered by the IGI Airport Unit during the current year so far in which passengers have been inadvertently or knowingly detected with ammunition while security screening at the airport, the DCP said.

The officer said despite issuing appeals to the public that "carrying ammunition at the airport is a non-bailable offence", such cases where ammunition or cartridges are detected in the baggage of the passengers are still being reported, which is a matter of concern.

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