Chennai, Jan 4 (BPNS)

Congress leader from Kerala and former Chairman of Pattambi municipality, K.S.B. Thangal was apprehended by the CISF personal at the Coimbatore International Airport on Tuesday morning after revolver and 7 rounds of live cartridges were recovered from his baggage.

He was handed over to the Peelamedu police for further investigation.

The Congress leader was to board an Indigo aircraft for traveling to Bengaluru from Coimbatore and from there to Amritsar in Punjab.

Thangal told CISF personal that he did not have any knowledge of the revolver in his baggage. CISF officials told media persons that the Congress leader does not have any required papers for carrying a revolver in his possession during airline travel.

He informed the police that he was the secretary of the Muslim Educational Society (MES) school in Pattambi for the past fifteen years and was traveling to Amritsar to purchase uniforms for the children of the school.

It may be recalled that on February 16, 2007, the present Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan while serving as the CPM Kerala state secretary was taken for questioning by the CISF officials at Chennai airport after they found five live bullets in his hand baggage. Pinarayi was traveling to New Delhi to attend the CPI- M Politburo meeting and had stayed overnight at Chennai and was traveling to New Delhi from here when he was questioned. He had given a written statement that the bullets belonged to his licensed revolver and the cops let him off only after getting a response from the Kerala police at his home district Kannur on his revolver, its make, license, and whether bullets were of that revolver.