Accidental Discharge of Licensed Weapon at Varanasi Airport

On 16 August 2026 at about 09:30 hrs, a passenger (Shri Kamlesh Kedarnath Rai) travelling on Air India Express flight IX 1810 from Varanasi to Mumbai declared a licensed 7.62 mm pistol with 21 live cartridges at the check‑in counter. While the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) staff were handling the weapon, a round discharged accidentally, injuring two screening personnel (Shri Rohit Raj and Ms Suman Kumari). The injured were taken to New Lakshmi Trauma Centre. The passenger was detained, police informed, and BCAS is investigating the incident. Airport operations continued without disruption.