Thiruvananthapuram, June 10: One CISF jawan died of bullet wounds at the Karipur international airport in north Kerala tonight after a war of words with fire force personnel over security frisking spun out of control.

The brawl occurred around 9.30pm and the deceased has been identified as Jaipal Yadav, 52, a native of Uttar Pradesh.

The runway was closed following the incident and flights were redirected to Kochi international airport.

Yadav and his colleague were reportedly on duty at the terminal entry when a fire force employee in uniform, identified as Sunny Thomas, came over. Frisking is standard procedure at this point and the guards insisted that Thomas submit himself to the check.

The issue has been a point of confrontation between the CISF and other airport personnel in the past. Today, a heated argument broke out, during which Thomas allegedly snatched the gun from the jawan and fired.

In the ensuing stand-off, the firemen reportedly drove fire engines onto the runway and blocked it. Some flights which were due to land could not do so and were redirected to Kochi.