Pistol found in air-passenger’s lunch-box

An air passenger, who was flying from Patna to New Delhi on Thursday and was scheduled to fly to Dubai on Friday, was arrested at Patna airport after a country-made pistol was found in his lunch-box.

The passenger, identified as Ejaz, is originally a native of Nawada and was on way to Delhi by 6E 6367 Indigo flight. Minutes before he was to get a boarding pass, the airline's personnel detected a country-made pistol in his tiffin which had snacks too.

An electrician by profession, Ejaz expressed complete ignorance about how come a pistol was kept in his lunch-box, which had bread and biscuits too. On further investigation, Rs 40,000 in cash was recovered from him. The airline's staff handed over the air passenger to CISF men, who, in turn, handed him over to the Patna Airport Police.

Later, a DSP-rank official quizzed Ejaz for hours and a separate team was sent to Nawada to find out his past criminal antecedents if any. The apprehended passenger told his interrogators that Rs 40,000 recovered from him was meant to hand over to the agent in New Delhi who had arranged his visa and passport.

“A country-made pistol has been found in his tiffin. However, no cartridges have been recovered. Besides, the country-made pistol was in the luggage, so the suspicion that Ejaz could have planned a hijack has been ruled out. We are, however, verifying his past antecedents,” said Arun Kumar, officer-in-charge of the police station.

“The passenger, who was to board an Air India flight from New Delhi to Dubai on Friday, has been forwarded to jail,” said an aviation source.