India deploys world's hottest chilli to fight terrorism

Post date: Mar 23, 2010 6:27:43 PM

Bhut jolokia, or 'ghost chilli', to be used for teargas-like grenades to immobilise suspects, defence officials say

• Associated Press

• guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 23 March 2010 12.16 GMT

Farmer Digonta Saikia shows a bhut jolokia pepper plucked from his field in the north-eastern Indian state of Assam. Photograph: Manish Swarup/AP

The Indian military has a new weapon against terrorism: the world's hottest chilli.

After conducting tests, the military has decided to use the thumb-sized bhut jolokia, or "ghost chilli", to make teargas-like hand grenades to immobilise suspects, defence officials said.

The bhut jolokia was accepted by Guinness World Records in 2007 as the world's spiciest chilli. It is grown and eaten in India's north-east for its taste, as a cure for stomach troubles and a way to fight the crippling summer heat.

It has more than 1m Scoville units, the scientific measurement of a chilli's spiciness. Classic Tabasco sauce ranges from 2,500 to 5,000 Scoville units, while jalapeno peppers measure anywhere from 2,500 to 8,000.

"The chilli grenade has been found fit for use after trials in Indian defence laboratories, a fact confirmed by scientists at the Defence Research and Development Organisation," said Colonel R Kalia, a defence spokesman in the north-eastern state of Assam.

"This is definitely going to be an effective non-toxic weapon because its pungent smell can choke terrorists and force them out of their hideouts," said RB Srivastava, director of the life sciences department at the New Delhi headquarters of the DRDO.

Srivastava said trials were also being done to produce bhut jolokia-based aerosol sprays to be used by women against attackers and for the police to control and disperse mobs.