The Indian authorities have detained a US police officer who was caught with ammunition at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in the national capital, local media reported Saturday.

The officer of the New York Police Department, Manny Encarnacion, was caught with three bullets in his luggage last month upon his arrival in India to meet his Iranian wife, the reports said.

He has been barred from leaving the country till the case is solved, the reports said.

Some reports suggest that the 49-year-old cop's arrest was a payback for last year's arrest and strip-search of an Indian woman diplomat, Devyani Khobragade, on charges of visa fraud in New York.