Hot idea to tackle terror

For those planning a terror attack or a riot, here’s a hot tip: Don’t. You could be hit by worse that water cannon — a chilli bomb, which would have the potency of the world’s hottest pepper. Naga jolokia or bhut jolokia, meaning ghostly chilli, gets its name from its deadly bite. It is reportedly 1,000 times hotter than the ordinary kitchen chilli.

In 2007, the Guinness Book of World Records recognized the Naga jolokia as the hottest in the world. It has more than 800,000 Scoville heat units (SHU), which indicate the amount of capsaicin it contains. Capsaicin, an active compound of chilli peppers, is an irritant that produces a burning sensation on tissue that comes in contact with it.

From the kitchen and the record books to fighting riots? The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in New Delhi is testing a grenade that will have the pungency of the bhut jolokia. “It occurred to us that the chilli could be used in hand grenades,” says R B Srivastava, director of Life Sciences at DRDO, Delhi. Srivastava probably knows about the bhut jolokia at first hand, having once been director of the Defence Research Laboratory at Tezpur in Assam.

The new ‘hot’ bomb is being tested and the DRDO is reluctant to give details.

Ordinary tear gas, which is used to disperse rioters, affects the eyes and can be tolerated by holding a wet cloth to the face. But “the chilli bomb would choke the respiratory system too,” says Srivastava. “The person can even go into a semi-conscious state.”

With low-intensity conflict on the rise, this could be a non-lethal way to tackle insurgents and mobs. “One hand chilli grenade would be enough to make an impact in a room. The after-effects would be felt for about 20 minutes,” he says.