Pune: The Airport police detained a sevika (44) with an akhada in Varanasi on charges of carrying an unlicensed pistol and two live cartridges while boarding a flight to Delhi around 4.10am on Tuesday in the second incident of its kind within three days.The woman hails from Kurduwadi in Solapur district. The police issued her a notice asking her to join investigations as and when summoned before releasing her.Deputy commissioner of police (Zone IV) Somay Mundhe told TOI, “The firearm was illegal and its magazine had two live cartridges. We were able to register the FIR around 10.10pm on Tuesday after completing the panchanama report and recording statements of all concerned. Since it was late night and the person being a woman, we preferred not to arrest her, but issue her a notice. Our investigation is in progress regarding the source of the firearm and the purpose of carrying it.“The police had detained a builder from Solapur on Sunday when he was found carrying a licensed revolver in his luggage. He was to board a flight to Varanasi from Pune. The police later released him.In Tuesday’s case, sub-inspector Kantilal Gund of the Airport police said, “The woman gave her handbag to a private airline’s baggage screening counter. The operator handling the screening machine spotted the pistol and cartridges, and raised an alarm. The Central Industrial Security Force personnel and the airport authorities detained her and took her to the Airport police station.” Jayendra Shirodkar (33), an official from the private airline company, lodged a complaint with the police late on Tuesday night. “The woman does not have a firearm licence. We questioned her on the source of the firearm and the purpose of carrying it, but she did not divulge any information. We suspect she brought the weapon from Uttar Pradesh and it remained in her purse while venturing inside the airport,” he said.
