Calcutta, Jan. 31: A Trinamul Congress functionary of the Burdwan zilla parishad was arrested from Calcutta airport today with a revolver and three cartridges.

Narendranath Chakraborty, the zilla parishad functionary in charge of agriculture in Burdwan, was to take a SpiceJet flight to Chennai.

The gun and the bullets were found during a scan of his luggage by CISF personnel. The middle-aged Trinamul leader was part of a group of three persons and had reached the airport around 3.15pm, sources said.

The identity of the two persons accompanying Chakraborty could not be ascertained.

"Chakraborty could not produce a licence for the revolver. He also did not inform the airline that he was carrying a gun. He claimed during questioning that he had no idea about the gun and how it got into his bag," said a CISF officer posted at the airport.

Officials said a flier on a domestic plane must have the gun's licence and specify to the airline the reasons to carry the weapon.

The airline inspects the licence and if the documents are in order, the domestic flier needs to pay Rs 5,000 for carrying the gun, a CISF officer said. The airline crew keep the gun and the ammunition with them, and hand them over to the passenger after he reaches his destination.

Chakraborty was today handed over to officers of the airport police station, who arrested him.

Senior officers of Bidhannagar police - the airport police station is under its jurisdiction - were not immediately available for comment.

Sources said Chakraborty had been charged under Sections 25 and 27 of the Arms Act. The charge carries a maximum punishment of seven years in jail.

Trinamul insiders in Burdwan said Chakraborty, also the president of the party's Pandaveswar block committee, had taken a car from Andal to travel to Calcutta. It was not clear if the two persons had accompanied him from Andal and why he was going to Chennai.

Uttam Mukherjee, the Trinamul president in Durgapur sub-division, said: "Carrying arms like this reminds me of goons backed by the CPM during its rule. If someone in our party has done this, he has set a bad precedent."

Sources in the Asansol-Durgapur police commissionerate said Chakraborty did not have any criminal record.