Live bullets on the fly

‘Cases lodged only after verifying passenger antecedents’

Since 2018, over 380 cases have been registered and at least as many arrests made by the Delhi police against airline passengers found carrying live bullets in their luggage. 

Senior officers said carrying ammunition constituted the second-most common crime committed by passengers at IGI Airport, after passport forgery. Most passengers claimed innocence after live bullets or bullet shells were detected in the baggage scanner or by the CISF personnel. As per the law, they had to be booked under the Arms Act, arrested, and stopped from boarding.

The police said while most passengers carry the bullets inadvertently due to an expired licence or borrowing it from someone holding a valid gun licence, they have to register a case against the offenders.

“Majority of the cases pertain to passengers caught while boarding a flight from Delhi. There are also cases where overseas visitors arrive with live bullets inside their bags because the ammunition may not have been detected during security scanning in their country of origin. The ammunition is often tucked in a corner of the luggage and is detected when such passengers take a connecting domestic flight from Delhi,” a senior officer disclosed. 

Last August, a passenger had arrived at IGI Airport from New York and was about to take a domestic flight to Nagpur when he was arrested by CISF personnel for carrying a live bullet in his luggage. He could not provide a government authorization for carrying the ammunition.

“In many cases, the weapon licence is expired or the passenger fails to declare the firearm in his registered baggage. Though the passenger cannot cause security threat with such less ammunition, the police are compelled to initiate criminal proceedings as per law and the accused faces a trial,” the officer said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (IGI) Sanjay Tyagi said, “Cases are lodged only after verifying the antecedents of the passengers. If we find he/she holds a genuine weapon licence in his home state or country, we let off the passenger.”