Kerala CPI(M) secretary Pinarayi Vijayan sent the cops at Chennai airport into a tizzy on Friday evening, with the X-ray machine at the security check spotting five live cartridges of a .38-revolver in his laptop case.

The CPI(M) leader was immediately led away for questioning, and he gave a written explanation that it belonged to his own licensed revolver. The cops, however, took their time verifying his claim with the police in his native Kannur, before he was allowed to go with no charges.

By then, the Jet Airways flight he was to catch to attend the CPI(M) Politburo meeting had left.

Party sources here said Pinarayi had taken an overnight train from Thiruvananthapuram for Chennai en route New Delhi. He had kept his revolver--which he normally carries with him--at home, but forgot to leave behind the bullets. He will take another flight to New Delhi on Saturday, they added.

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