Delhi: 45 hand guns seized from 2 passengers at IGI

New Delhi, July 13 (IANS) The Customs department has seized as many as 45 hand guns from two passengers -- both Indian nationals, here at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, an official said on Wednesday.

The guns were seized from Jagjit Singh and his wife Jaswinder Kaur, who arrived here from Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam) on July 11 along with their infant daughter.

"The passengers were intercepted by the Customs officers when they had crossed the green channel of the arrival hall and were approaching the east gate," the official said.

"Jagjit Singh was carrying two trolley bags which were handed over to him by his elder brother Manjit Singh, who had arrived from Paris almost at the same time and day Jagjit and Jaswinder arrived from Vietnam," the official said, adding after this Manjit managed to slip out of the airport.

He said that Jaswinder Kaur was also an active part of the plan and helped remove and destroy the tags of both the trolley bags containing 45 guns.

"Both the accused passengers have admitted their previous indulgence in smuggling of 25 pieces of assorted guns from Turkey," said the official.

Accordingly, the two trolley bags along with recovered guns were seized and the passengers were arrested under section 104 of the Customs Act.

Meanwhile, sources told IANS that a ballistics report will confirm whether the guns are real or not. "But in a preliminary report, the NSG has confirmed that the guns are fully functional and can be used," a source said.