Indian trooper arrested with 2 grenades in Kashmir airport

An Indian army trooper was arrested Monday at Srinagar airport in restive Indian-controlled Kashmir after two hand grenades were found in his baggage, police said.

The trooper was about to board a chartered flight to New Delhi, when the policemen to screen passenger baggage inside airport detected the hand grenades and alerted the anti-hijacking squad.

"Today we found two hand grenades inside baggage of a trooper belonging to Indian army," a police official posted at airport said. "The trooper was about to take flight to Delhi."

The trooper hailing from India's West Bengal is posted near the Line of Control (LoC) in frontier Uri sector, and was reportedly proceeding on leave to his home state.

Police said they have registered a case and ordered an investigation.

"The trooper has been taken in police custody and we are investigating wherefrom he has managed to get the grenades," the police official said.

According to police, the trooper managed to enter inside airport without being stopped at the gate because army vehicles were not subjected to frisking at the entry.

Srinagar is one of the most heavily guarded airports with multiple layers of security and checking points.

Indian-controlled Kashmir is considered as the highest militarized region. Officially India does not reveal the actual number of its troops deployed in the troubled region. However, rights activists say there are over 700,000 Indian troops and paramilitary troops in the region fighting an anti-India insurgency. Endit