UAE plane held with arms for China

A UAE Air Force plane has been grounded at Kolkata airport from Sunday evening following the discovery of a large cache of undeclared arms and ammunition on board, and was not allowed to resume its flight even 24 hours later. The interrogation of the pilot and eight crew members continued, both at the airport and the hotel where they have been put up.

The military transport Hercules C-130 aircraft, flying from Abu Dhabi to Hanyang in China, landed at Kolkata airport to refuel on Sunday evening. The customs authorities refused to give it clearance after finding discrepancies in the declarations filed by the aircraft captain and the UAE Air Force.

In an earlier declaration filed with Air Headquarters in New Delhi, the UAE Air Force had said that the aircraft, flying through Indian airspace on its way to Hanyang, would not carry any arms or ammunition, said Wing Commander Mahesh Upasani, defence ministry spokesman in Kolkata.

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