Aviation school official found with empty rifle shell

Nagpur, Jun 6 (UNI) A lady official of a Chandigarh-based aviation training school was questioned and later released after an empty 8 mm shell was found in her bag during a pre-flight security check at the airport here today.

The woman, identified as Giggles Wadia, was allowed to go after questioning as the shell seized from her was empty and was used in a .315 rifle, which was not a prohibited bore, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Dr Suresh Mekala told UNI. The woman claimed that she was the daughter of a retired army colonel, and that the shell was a ''gift'' to her from a friend, identified as Anchit Singh Chauhan, who is a real estate agent in Uttar Pradesh, he said.

Mr Chauhan claimed that he was the son of a retired colonel, and that he had got the shell over a decade ago as a gift from his uncle, identified only as ''Munna'', a resident of Haryana, Dr Mekala said. ''Munna told us that he has a licensed .315 weapon, which he uses for firing practice at his farmhouse,'' he said, adding that a police party would be sent to Haryana to verify Munna's statement.

Dr Mekala said that Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel detained Ms Wadia and handed her over to the city police after they found the shell in her bag. Ms Wadia, Deputy General Manager (Placements) with the institute, was to board a flight to New Delhi en route to Chandigarh, the DCP said. She had come to Nagpur to attend the launching ceremony of some courses of the institute earlier this week, he added.

The police also spoke to Ms Wadia's superior at the institute's office in Chandigarh, and are likely to question the head of the institute's centre in the city.

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