In separate incidents, two passengers were caught with cartridges in their baggage by airline staff at the Pune International Airport on Thursday.
Commotion ensued at the airport on Thursday morning as a 58-year-old passenger hailing from Maharashtra’s Jalgaon district aboard a Pune-Bengaluru SpiceJet flight (SG- 519) was detained by the police after airline staff found 22 bullets of .32 caliber in his baggage at around 4:45 a.m.
In the second case, a 60-year-old man hailing from Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh who was scheduled to board a Pune-Delhi Indigo flight (6E 863) was found with two cartridges in his baggage.
Both persons are being questioned by the Vimantal Police.
“It appears that the person in the first case, identified as one Dilip Mukundrao Patil and hailing from Pachora town in Jalgaon, forgot to keep the bullets out of his hand luggage before boarding his flight. We have verified that Patil has a licence for his pistol,” said Dilip Shinde, senior police inspector, Vimantal station, speaking to The Hindu.
The person in the second case, one Bhagwan Singh hailing from Uttar Pradesh, is a locomotive driver. Police said that Mr. Singh told them that he had come to visit his son, an IT engineer working in Pune’s Wagholi IT Park area.
“We are still questioning him as to how the two cartridges came about in his luggage,” Inspector Shinde said.
Confirming the development, SpiceJet issued a statement on THursday saying the passenger had not declared the live cartridges before placing the baggage for screening.
"He was questioned by SpiceJet staff and the CISF was immediately informed. The passenger was requested to provide the necessary documents, which according to him he had left at his home. The passenger was handed over to CISF and was then taken to the local police station," the statement added.