Raipur, Aug 19 - Chhattisgarh Congress maintained silence Wednesday after a party legislator from Ambikapur seat, T.S. Singhdeo, was held at the Bhopal airport after security personnel found him carrying 10 live cartridges.

Singhdeo belongs to an erstwhile royal Surguja family. Though, the legislator got bail by a local court in Bhopal, party leaders in Chhattisgarh kept silent over the issue, describing the arrest as Singhdeo's 'personal issue'.

'Though the arrest has certainly embarrassed the party but we are still bracketing the issue as a personal matter of Singhdeo. The Congress has nothing to do with the whole episode,' a senior state Congress leader told IANS requesting anonymity.

Sources say Singhdeo has informed the state party unit by phone from Bhopal that the cartridges were meant for a licensed revolver owned by his spouse. He said he was arrested because he had no license papers at the time when he was set to board a Raipur-bound Jet airways flight.

The arrest has come just a day before party MP and Congress national general secretary Rahul Gandhi arrives in Chhattisgarh on a two-day visit.