Take ordinary grenades like these, fill them with dust from the hottest chili peppers on earth, and you've got a blinding and sickening weapon. (U.S. Marine Corps / Lance Cpl. Justin J. Shemanski)
India has unveiled the latest hot new weapon -- a grenade made using the world's hottest chili, reported The Sun on Friday.
At more than a thousand times stronger than the average cooking spice the bhut jolokia chili is set to cause a potent explosion on more than just the taste buds.
Military experts in India have developed the new crowd control grenade packed with ground seeds from the chili -- which is officially recognized as the hottest on the planet by Guinness World Records.
When deployed the grenade showers the targets with a dust so spicy that in trials subjects were blinded for hours and left with breathing problems. Lead scientist R.B. Srivastava, from India's Defense Research and Development Organisation, said: "The chilli grenade is a non-toxic weapon and when used would force a terrorist to come out of his hideout.
"The effect is so pungent that it would literally choke them."
The hotness of the bhut jolokia, which is native to Assam, in north-east India, is measured in Scoville heat units and comes in at a massive 1,001,304 -- that is nearly twice as hot as Mexico's red savina that used to hold the record at 577,000.
The average jalapeno measures at about 10,000.
Researchers in India have also come up with some other ingenious uses for the chili.
The scientist said: "There are other applications as well, what we call women power. A specially made chili powder could act as a tool for women to keep away anti-socials and work in this regard is also on."
The department have come up with another plan to rub the chili powder on the fences around army barracks. And Mr Srivastava said: "The chili paste could also act as a major repellent against wild elephants.
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