Air India Passenger's Gun Goes Off At Varanasi Airport; Two Injured

Varanasi: Two people got injured when an Air India passenger accidentally shot from a pistol at Varanasi airport on Sunday. The Air India passenger was from Azamgarh and was heading towards Mumbai. He carried a pistol and a magazine with him and had given details of these. The pistol suddenly fired, striking two people standing nearby, one man and a woman. 

Where did the firing incident happen?

On Sunday, during a weapons check in Varanasi airport, two people were injured as a gun belonging to an Air India passenger went off.

The passenger, who was from Azamgarh, was on Air India flight IX-1810 with his wife on a trip to Mumbai. He was carrying a pistol and a magazine with him and had announced them prior to getting on board.

Today, 16.08.2026, at about 0930 hrs, a passenger travelling with his wife on flight IX-1810 to Mumbai declared weapons on board the flight. During the weapons check, the passenger fired a round, injuring two AAICLAS screeners. Both were taken to New Laxmi Trauma Centre for…

— ANI (@ANI) August 16, 2026

What did the officials say?

The weapon and its documents were on the verge of being checked when the gun went off, said Puneet Gupta, director of the airport in Varanasi. He stated that the weapon and documents were been verified by the airport personnel when the incident happen.

The bullet struck the two people near it first, after striking the ground. One woman had a gunshot wound in her thigh and one male staff member had a gunshot wound to his hand.

How did the incident happen?

The incident occurred at about 09:30 am on 16th August 2026, during the screening process at the airport while the passenger was carrying a weapon, he shot a round and injured two AAICLAS screeners, the Varanasi Airport Director explained.

“The passenger travelling with his wife on flight IX-1810 to Mumbai declared weapons on board the flight while they were going through the weapons check, which resulted in injuries to two AAICLAS screeners who were taken to New Laxmi Trauma Centre for treatment, local police have been informed and an investigation is on,” the Varanasi Airport Director said.

Gupta said both the injured employees were in "stable" condition and were receiving treatment.

The airport director said he has notified local police and an investigation is underway.