US nationals in police custody

The two US nationals - detained at Bagdogra airport for carrying bullets in their luggage on Monday- have been remanded in police custody till Friday. Monica Bond (57) and her daughter Heather (37) will have to appear at a Siliguri court and produce a gun licence and valid papers for the 9-mm bullets.

The two were nabbed by airport security personnel around 11.30 am on Monday when they were about to board a Deccan flight back to New Delhi after their trip to Darjeeling. The flight was scheduled to take off at 11.55 am. Both were detained by the police at Bagdogra and an inquiry was started.

Monica and Heather had queued up to get their luggage scanned before boarding the flight. Security personnel were taken aback when the scan revealed bullets in one of Monica's bags. She was taken aside and asked why she was carrying those. Monica couldn’t come up with a satisfactory answer.