Israeli national held with live cartridges says it was a mistake

The 23-year-old Israeli national, Nurit Toker, who was recently arrested by the Sahar airport police for allegedly carrying two live firearm cartridges, has moved the Bombay high court seeking quashing of the proceedings initiated against her. Her contention is that the cartridges were kept in her bag by sheer mistake.

Toker’s plea states that she completed her compulsory three-year military training in Israel on October 18, 2011, and had planned a vacation to India, Nepal and Thailand. She was about to leave for Nepal from Mumbai International Airport, when the cartridges were detected in her bag by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).

Her plea further states that she possessed a licensed firearm, and the two cartridges found on her were compatible with the firearm. However, at the time of her arrest, she was not carrying the firearm. After her arrest, she was produced before the Bandra holiday court, which sentenced her to one-day custody.

Subsequently, before the regular court, she was granted bail since the offence comes under the Indian Arms Act. However, one of the conditions of the bail order stated that she should not leave the city.

Toker has thus agreed to make herself available during the trial, and cooperate with the investigation as and when required. She has petitioned the court to either relax the bail conditions restricting her movements to Mumbai, or quash the entire proceedings since it was a mistake.

Division bench of Justice A M Khanwilkar and Justice Rajesh Ketkar pointed out to the petitioner that the CISF was not a party to the plea, granting them leave to amend the petition and adjourning the hearing till December 7. Meanwhile, the police also agreed to extend Toker’s visa, which expires on December 5.