Passenger’s pistol fires at Varanasi airport, two injured

A licensed pistol accidentally discharged during security screening at Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport in Varanasi on Sunday morning, injuring two screening personnel. The incident occurred around 9.30 am when passenger Kamlesh Kedarnath Rai, a resident of Azamgarh, declared his 7.62 mm pistol with 21 live cartridges at the check-in counter for a flight to Mumbai on Air India Express. The weapon fired while being inspected, with the bullet ricocheting and hitting security staff Rohit Raj in the thumb and Suman Kumari in the leg. Both were admitted to a private hospital.

Rediff.com reports that police detained Rai and registered a case under Section 125 of the BNS for rash or negligent acts endangering life. The civil aviation ministry stated that the magazine came out during inspection but a round remained in the chamber, firing after the trigger was accidentally pressed. The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security is examining whether prescribed procedures were followed. The Federal adds that senior police officers including the DCP Gomti Zone and ACP Pindra arrived at the scene. Airport operations continued without disruption, the ministry said.