Complication in India: M-16 bullets in an Israeli woman’s bag
The backpacker is arrested after four rifle bullets from her army service are found in her bag; following intervention from the Israeli Consulate in Mumbai, she is released following a lengthy interrogation at the police station; the Foreign Ministry cautions tourists to check their bags before travelling.
Yet another young Israeli was arrested a few days ago at the airport in Mumbai, India, after four M-16 rifle bullets from her military service were found in her bag. As a result of the speedy intervention of the Israeli Consul in Mumbai, the head of the police station was persuaded to release the Israeli.
The Israeli travelled to the subcontinent for a backpacking trip after her IDF service. She landed in Mumbai and was about to board a connecting flight to another destination inside of India. The rifle bullets were found during a routine security check. Though she attempted to explain that they had been forgotten there after her military service, she was still taken in for questioning.
The Israeli Consul in Mumbai, Galit Laroche Falach, already is experienced in this matter from previous, nearly identical situations. She quickly arrived at the police station and succeeded in rescuing the Israeli woman from what would have been a serious and complicated situation.
Laroche Falach convinced the head of the police station that this was an innocent mistake and, after an interrogation that lasted for three hours, the Israeli woman was released and, accompanied by police officers, returned to the airport in Mumbai to continue on her trip as she had originally planned.
The Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem urged Israelis to ensure that they check that no bullets from their army service are left in their bags. Dozens of Israelis have wound up in trouble in recent years after being arrested in airports around the world in similar cases.
In some of the instances, Israeli consulates succeeded in rescuing those involved, but in many other cases the backpackers had to deal with departure prohibitions, charges being pressed and even imprisonment. The common denominator in all these cases is that the travelers successfully passed through Ben Gurion Airport without these bullets being found during security checks.
