Woman passenger detained for wearing bullet as pendant

CHENNAI: A woman passenger, who was wearing a bullet as a pendant around her neck, was briefly detained by security officials at the Anna International Airport here on Saturday.

Airport sources said Noor Bi Kaleel (52), a native of Vandavasi in Tiruvannamalai district of Tamil Nadu, came to board a Sharjah-bound Air Arabia flight on Saturday morning.

After clearing immigration formalities, she went through security check. During frisking, it was found that she was wearing a 5.56 mm bullet, covered by threads, as the locket for a chain she was wearing around her neck.

Noor, who has been working as a domestic help in Sharjah, told the authorities that she was advised to wear the "sacred thread" by an Islamic cleric as a "remedy" for her heart ailment.

She had been wearing the pendant for the past three years, she said.

After a thorough investigation, security official seized the bullet from her and allowed her to leave for Sharjah, the sources said.