Chilli-filled ‘PAVA shells’ likely to replace pellet guns

TIL Desk/National/J&K-With eye injuries caused by use of pellet guns in Jammu & Kashmir turning into a major controversy, an expert panel of the home ministry is exploring whether these can be replaced with newly-developed PAVA shells, a chilli-based non-lethal munition which temporarily incapacitates the targets and renders them immobile for several minutes.

The shells have been under trial for almost a year now at the Indian Institute of Toxicology Research, a Council of Scientific and Industrial Research laboratory in Lucknow.

Pava stands for Pelargonic Acid Vanillyl Amide and is an organic compound found characteristically in natural chilli pepper. The shell has the capacity to severely irritate and temporarily immobilise paralyse humans. The committee, sources said, has found Pava to be in the less-lethal ammunition category.