Soldier arrested with 2 grenades at Srinagar airport, was to take flight to Delhi (AFP file photo)
Highlights
- Soldier arrested with 2 grenades at Srinagar airport
- Gopal Mukhiya was serving near the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir
- He was to take flight to Delhi, police said
A soldier was arrested this morning at Jammu and Kashmir's Srinagar airport after two grenades and live ammunition were found in his baggage. He has allegedly told the police and security forces that he was directed by one "Major Sahib" to take the grenades to Delhi. The officer will soon be questioned.
The jawan, Bhupal Mukhiya of 17 JAK Rifles, serves near the Line of Control in the Uri sector of Kashmir.
The police say he was about to take a chartered flight to Delhi when a baggage check revealed the grenades. He was jointly interrogated by the police and the Central Reserve Police Force or CRPF.
"He said he was directed by Major Sahib to carry the grenades to Delhi, where some person was to pick up the consignment," said a senior police officer.
"We are not taking his claim at face value and we are investigating based on evidence," the officer added.
The grenades were allegedly packed and concealed in multiple covers.
Srinagar is one of the most heavily guarded airports in the country with multiple points of checking. The soldier had entered the airport without being stopped because there is no checking for the army at the entry.
Bhupal Mukhiya is from Darjeeling in West Bengal, the police say.
It was in Uri, where he serves, that 19 soldiers were killed last year in an attack on an army camp, in one of the worst terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir in recent years.
The arrest comes a day after a high-profile visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who opened the Chenani-Nashri all-weather tunnel near Udhampur in Jammu.
Hours after the event, a policeman was killed and 14 security personnel injured in a grenade attack by militants in Srinagar.