Trinamool Councillor arrested with firearms before boarding flight at Kolkata airport

Kolkata, Sep 21 (IANS) A Trinamool Congress Councillor was arrested along with a magazine and six rounds of cartridges within his baggage while he was trying to board a domestic flight at Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata on Sunday.

The Trinamool Congress leader has been identified as Sheikh Aminul Islam, Councillor of Ward Number 14 of Pujali municipality in South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal.

He was set to board a domestic flight to Mumbai.

After the scanning of his luggage was done, the security personnel at the airport noted the existence of metallic substances within his luggage.

The Councillor was immediately isolated from the place and a through frisking of his luggage was done thereafter, following which a magazine and six rounds of 7.65 cartridges were recovered.

The Councillor could not give satisfactory answers on why he was carrying the cartridges and the magazine and also could not furnish any document authorised to carry them.

Thereafter, he was arrested and handed over to the local police station.

The police have started an investigation in the matter.

At the time, a report was filed but there was no reaction from Trinamool Congress leadership in the matter.

Incidentally, on Sunday morning, there was an incident of shootout at a gym at Charu Market area in south Kolkata, when two unknown persons entered the facility wearing raincoats and sporting helmets and shot a couple of rounds of bullets from the firearms they were carrying.

However, fortunately none were injured.

After firing the bullets, the two miscreants ran away from the spot.

The police have started an investigation in the matter.

The police suspect that the owner of the gym was their target.

--IANS

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