Chennai, Jan 4 (IANS): Congress leader from Kerala and former Chairman of Pattambi municipality, K.S.B. Thangal was detained by the CISF personnel at the Coimbatore International Airport on Tuesday morning after a revolver and seven rounds of live cartridges were recovered from his luggage.

He was handed over to the Peelamedu police for further investigation.

The Congress leader was to board an Indigo aircraft for Bengaluru from Coimbatore and from there to Amritsar in Punjab.

Thangal told the CISF personnel that he was not aware of the revolver in his baggage.

CISF officials told mediapersons that the Congress leader does not have any required papers for carrying a revolver during airline travel.

He informed the police that he was the secretary of the Muslim Educational Society (MES) school in Pattambi for the past 15 years and was traveling to Amritsar to purchase uniforms for the children.

On February 16, 2007, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who was then serving as the CPI-Marxist Kerala state secretary, was questioned by the CISF officials at Chennai airport after they found five live bullets in his hand baggage.

Vijayan, who was traveling to New Delhi to attend the CPI-M Politburo meeting, had stayed overnight at Chennai. He was questioned when he was leaving for New Delhi from here.

Pinarayi had given a written statement that the bullets belonged to his licensed revolver. He was let off only after getting a response from the Kerala police at his home district Kannur on his revolver, its make, license, and whether bullets were of that revolver.