Right gun, wrong licence holds up Big B

Mumbai: Amitabh Bachchan had a taste of high security measures at Mumbai airport on Saturday morning, when he was stopped for carrying a pistol in his registered baggage. Bachchan, who was to board Jet airways flight 9W 202 from Mumbai to Pune at 9.55 am, was stopped by airline security officials after they found a discrepancy in the number on the pistol and the one mentioned on the weapon licence. He was allowed to board the flight after his secretary returned with the firearm.

���The digits on the pistol were different from those on the licence. Airline officials found the curvature of the pistol different from the one the digits indicated,������ said a security officer at the airport.

Jet Airways too confirmed the incident. ���There was a slight discrepancy in the licence number. Mr Bachchan apologised for the error,������ said a Jet airways spokesperson. ���He then took the flight without the pistol,������ she added. According to airport sources, the discrepancy came to light when airline security staff were matching the details on the licence with the pistol. Interestingly, airline staff did not inform the Central industrial Security Force.

Jet Airways defended itself. ���He had declared the weapon and there was no room for suspicion. The airline did what it was supposed to,������ said an airline official. Last year, industrialist Nusli Wadia was detained at Dubai airport for carrying an undeclared gun in his registered baggage.

A passenger carrying a weapon has to declare it with documents to the airline before check-in. It is only after cross-checking the weapon documents and make of the weapon, that the airline packs it into the registered or check-in baggage.

���Bachchan had declared the weapon to the airline. However, he later realised that the documents he was carrying along were not for the same pistol,������ said an airport source. ���The pistol was later sent back with his secretary,������ he added.
The difference in the pistol number created tension at the airport, more because of the strict baggage security checks going on in the wake of terror alerts. ���People were suddenly on their toes,������ said a security official.

Meanwhile, Santacruz police have asked Juhu police, under whose jurisdiction the actor���s residence falls, to check the document and the weapon and submit a report to them. Said police inspector SM Ghughe, ���We were not informed by the airlines nor the CISF about the issue.

We know it may be just a mistake but since he did not have the document of the weapon at the time, he may have to produce the same at Juhu police station.������ Bachchan was travelling to Pune for the shooting of A m b i k a Hinduja���s film, Teen Patti.���

Rules for licensed guns

The passenger should declare it to the airline officials before checking-in. After the weapon is declared, the airline requires the passenger to fill a form giving out details about the weapon being carried on the flight. The details are then corroborated with the weapon licence and the weapon itself.

Post this check, the airline seals the weapon and puts it in the check-in baggage. The baggage is handed over at the destination. No airline allows passengers to carry weapons in hand-baggage

Arms and the celebrity

Most film personalities acquired gun licences after producer-director Rakesh Roshan was attacked by the underworld. Roshan had received extortion calls in 2000, just before the release of son Hrithik���s film Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai, demanding Rs 5 crore. Roshan was shot at while getting into his car at Santa Cruz.

Ram Gopal Varma, who also received threats from the underworld, does not possess a licence but is accompanied by a gunman. Producer-distributor Manmohan Shetty, targeted by the underworld, especially Abu Salem���s men, too has a gun licence.

A senior member from a private security agency said several film personalities including Aamir Khan, Suresh Oberoi, Suneil Shetty and Nitin Manmohan have gun licences.

In the late 90s and early 2000 applications for arms licences went up but Vikas Verma of Property Guards says, ���These arms will not work before machine guns used by terrorists. So I don���t think the number of applications will go up this time.������