Anantnag: An army soldier was detained, Monday morning, at Srinagar International Airport while he tried to smuggle a highly explosive hand grenade into the airplane.
The army man has been identified as Balaji Sampath, a resident of Tamil Nadu in the southern part of India. “He is from the 42 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) and has been deployed in Awantipora area of Pulwama district in South Kashmir,” a senior police official from Srinagar said.
Sampath was held at the luggage screening section, at the drop gate of the airport. “It was at about 9:30 in the morning when his luggage was screened, and the hand grenade was detected,” the police official said.
Nothing much has come up through his questioning by the airport authorities. “He has been handed over to the police for further questioning and investigation into the matter,” the official said.
For now, however, his motives remain unclear. This however is not the first such incident and army men have been held with ammunition and/or explosives at the Srinagar airport in the past as well.

Suhail A Shah