Second incident in two months: Army man travelling with two grenades arrested at Srinagar airport

5 Dariya News

Srinagar 03-Apr-2017

Anti-hijacking squad Monday detained an Indian army soldier for carrying two live grenades at Srinagar Airport.Police sources said that rifleman Bhupal Mukhia of 17 Jammu and Kashmir Rifles presently posted at one of the army camps at Boniyar Uri in North Kashmir was about to board Air India chartered flight from Srinagar to Delhi when anti-hijacking squad personnel frisked him and recovered two live grenades from his possession.The rifleman was whisked away and shifted to police station Humhama for questioning. “The accused hails from Darjeeling. He is being questioned while investigation has been set into motion,” a police official told CNS.Shortly after the incident, former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah retweeted: “Not something one would usually forget to unpack before boarding a flight. Tells a wider story of the problem of unaccounted weapons & ammo.” During early questioning, the accused soldier reportedly said he was unaware of the presence of grenades in his possession. Later, the Jawan revealed that he was carrying the grenades for “catching fish” by carrying blast in the river. He also informed that two more junior level officers were involved and he was being used as a “couriers”, according to Army sources .Pertinently, in February this year, an army man was arrested from the same Srinagar International Airport after Security Staff recovered 15 rounds of 7.62mm from his possession. The Rifleman P.K.Gouda, a resident of Bihar with 47 Rashtriya Rifles was scheduled to board on an Indigo flight 6E 694 to New Delhi. (CNS)