A chili grenade is a type of

non-lethal weapon Non-lethal weapons, also called nonlethal weapons, less-lethal weapons, less-than-lethal weapons, non-deadly weapons, compliance weapons, or pain-inducing weapons are weapons intended to be less likely to kill a living target than convention ...

developed by Indian military scientists at the

Defence Research and Development Organisation The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is an agency under the Department of Defence Research and Development in the Ministry of Defence of the Government of India, charged with the military's research and development, head ...

for use by the

Indian Armed Forces The Indian Armed Forces are the armed forces, military forces of the India, Republic of India. It consists of three professional uniformed services: the Indian Army, the Indian Navy, and the Indian Air Force.—— Additionally, the Indian Ar ...

. The weapon is similar to

tear gas Tear gas, also known as a lachrymatory agent or lachrymator (), sometimes colloquially known as "mace" after the Mace (spray), early commercial self-defense spray, is a chemical weapon that stimulates the nerves of the lacrimal gland in the ey ...

. In 2016, civilian variants were being used for crowd control in Jammu and Kashmir. The smoke grenades use one of the world's spiciest

chili pepper Chili peppers, also spelled chile or chilli ( ), are varieties of fruit#Berries, berry-fruit plants from the genus ''Capsicum'', which are members of the nightshade family Solanaceae, cultivated for their pungency. They are used as a spice to ...

bhut jolokia The ghost pepper, also known as ''bhut jolokia'' ( or 'Ghost pepper' in Assamese language, Assamese), is an interspecific hybrid chili pepper cultivated in Northeast India. It is a hybrid of ''Capsicum chinense'' and ''Capsicum frutescens''. In ...

, species in weaponised form. The weapon emits a powerful skin and eye irritant as well as pungent smell that causes the afflicted to leave their cover or become physically incapacitated by the grenade's load. The pepper being used is the thumb-sized

(or ghost chili) which had previously been recognised by ''

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...

'' as the hottest pepper in the world, but was later superseded by two other pepper cultivars, the Carolina Reaper and the Trinidad moruga scorpion. One bhut jolokia is more than 1,000,000 Scoville units.

References

Non-lethal weapons Grenades {{law-enforcement-stub

See also

References