Couple held for smuggling 45 hand guns at Delhi airport

A married couple returning from Vietnam was arrested at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here for allegedly trying to smuggle 45 hand guns into the country, customs officials said on Wednesday.

The officials said a ballistic report will ascertain whether the guns are real or not.

''But an interim report has confirmed that the guns can be used after modification,'' an official said.

The customs officials intercepted the accused after their arrival here from Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City on Monday, who were accompanied by their infant daughter. The male passenger was carrying two trolley bags, which were handed to him by his elder brother who had arrived from Paris almost at the same time and day as the couple's flight from Vietnam landed here, the customs department said in a statement.

The elder brother, after handing over the trolley bags, “slipped out of the airport”, it said.

The woman passenger was active part of this plan as she helped her husband remove and destroy the baggage identification tags of both the trolley bags that contained the guns, the statement said.

''Further, examination of these two trolley bags carried by passenger 1 (male passenger) resulted in the recovery of 45 pieces of assorted brand guns having approximate value of Rs 22.5 lakh,'' it said.

The husband-wife duo was arrested and their child was handed over to her grandmother, the statement said.

''Both the passengers have also admitted their previous involvement in smuggling 25 pieces of assorted guns from Turkey with approximate value of Rs 12.5 lakh,'' it added.