The Assam Police has a new weapon, which would primarily be used for crowd management and disperse mobs: the world's hottest chilli.

The state police have decided to use the thumb-sized bhut jolokia, or ghost chilli, to make tear gas-like hand grenades to immobilise suspects, police officials said.

Around 30,000 items of different types of non-lethal ammunition, including chilli grenade, have been added to its armoury in the last few months.

The bhut jolokia or ghost chilli was accepted by Guinness World Records in 2007 as the world's spiciest chilli. It is an interspecific hybrid chilli pepper cultivated in the Northeast Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Nagaland, and Manipur.

The non-lethal ammunition has been found fit for use after trials in Indian defence laboratories, a fact confirmed by scientists at the Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).