By Sudha Ramachandran
BANGALORE – Red-hot chili peppers could soon come to India’s defense. The country’s defense scientists are working on using the world’s hottest chilies in hand grenades for use in counter-insurgency operations and riot control.
An important ingredient in Indian cooking, hitherto chilies have been confined to kitchens. They seem poised now to storm another bastion. If ongoing field trials are successful, chilies will soon make a grand entry into India’s defense armory.
The plan is “to harness the pungency value of chilies to make hand grenades that can be used in riot control and counter-insurgency situations”, R B Srivastava, director of life sciences in the government-run Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO), told Asia Times Online.
Unlike its explosive-filled counterpart, the chili grenade is non-lethal. It works quite like tear gas. While it will not kill, it triggers tears and could put the victim in a semi-conscious state. “It will be useful in forcing militants out of their hideouts,” he said.
Even ordinary chilies cause severe itching and burning of the eyes. The chili that the DRDO is thinking of using – the bhut jolokia – is no ordinary chili.
Asia Times for more