# Air India Express flyer’s gun fires at Varanasi airport, two hurt 2026-08-16T11:18:37+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 2 independent outlets (4 source reports) A licensed pistol carried by an Air India Express passenger accidentally discharged at Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport in Varanasi on Friday, injuring two security screeners. The passenger, identified as Kamlesh Kedarnath Rai from Azamgarh, was travelling to Mumbai on flight IX1810 and had declared the firearm along with 21 live cartridges at the check-in counter. The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) is investigating whether prescribed procedures for handling licensed weapons at airports were followed, the government said. According to the injured screeners, Rai claimed the weapon was unloaded before pressing the trigger to show them. Rohit Raj, one of the injured, said the passenger might have acted in anger or frustration. The bullet struck Raj's finger and hit Suman Kumari in both legs. Both are undergoing treatment at New Laxmi Trauma Centre and are reported out of danger. Rai has been detained and an FIR registered. Airport operations continued without disruption. ## Coverage - ndtv.com - hindustantimes.com - hindustantimes.com (2) - ndtv.com (2) This story was synthesised by AI from the 4 sources linked above. Updated: this story now draws on 4 sources. Last updated 2026-08-16T12:52:29+00:00. Tags: Air India Express, BCAS, Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, Varanasi Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/air-india-express-passengers-gun-goes-off-at-varanasi-airport-two-injured/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/air-india-express-passengers-gun-goes-off-at-varanasi-airport-two-injured/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/