BENGALURU: A 27-year-old Mysuru resident was caught at the Kempe Gowda International (KIA) airport on Saturday morning for carrying a live bullet in his hand baggage.
The passenger was heading to board a Vistara flight from Bangalore to New Delhi. The incident took place around 9.15 am when the passenger Abhishek was passing through the security gates. His flight UK 812 had a scheduled departure time of 9.45 am.
According to an airport source, a prohibited bore (bullet) was detected during the screening of his hand baggage. "The bag was immediately physically checked and one 5.56 mm ammunition was detected. The passenger did not have any statement submitted to the airline on having the prohibited item in his possession nor did he have any permission letter taken for it".
The passenger was not allowed to fly and handed over to airport police for legal action to be taken against him. Another source said the 5.56 mm bullet was used in the INSAS rifle which is a world-class rifle and the standard weapon of the Indian Army or security forces.
INSAS is an assault rifle cum light machine gun which fires bullets at a velocity of 2940 feet per second. The 5.56 mm bullet is lighter compared to other bullets like 7.62 mm and hence more bullets can be carried, he said.
"This specific passenger was not employed in security or armed services. Also, there is no licence given to civilians to use this kind of weapon, " the source said.
Abhishek has been booked under Section 25 of the Indian Arms Act for carrying prohibited arms and ammunition, the source said.
"We have nothing to say from our end as the incident happened at the security stage itself, " said a representative of Vistara.
A similar incident was reported a month ago at KIA when a passenger on board an Indigo flight from Bangalore to Jharkhand was caught carrying two live bullets in his hand baggage. But they were bullets used in ordinary pistols.