By MilliGazette.com,
New Delhi: An Indian Muslim worker traveling to Kurdistan autonomous region of Iraq was stopped at the Delhi International Airport on Sunday morning and taken into custody. The 31-year-old passenger, identified as Mohammad Mukhtar Alam, was proceeding to Irbil, the capital of Kurdistan autonomous region, after spending his holidays in his home state of Bihar.
While Alam was stopped and arrested, two of his Sikh colleagues working with him in Irbil, were allowed to proceed. Alam works in Irbil’s Amirco Company as a crane operator since 2011. As he operates heavy machinery, he gets 28 days’ leave every six months which he regularly spends in his native place.
Alam has been taken to the Airport Police Station where he is being interrogated by police, security and intelligence people.
Allegedly, he was stopped due to an anonymous phone call received by the airport claiming that he works with the ISIS in Iraq. The fact is that Alam has been working in Iraq since 2011 when ISIS did not exist.
Moreover, he works in Kurdistan which is out-of-bound for ISIS. In fact, Kurdistan is at war with ISIS and is part of the US-led campaign against ISIS. As such, stoppage and arrest of such a passenger merely on the basis of an anonymous phone call is insult to intelligence.
While Gagan Bhaskar, SHO of the Airport Police Station confirmed that Alam is in his police station, the officer refused to give any details.
Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan, President of the All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat, has appealed to the media and human rights organizations to take interest in what he termed as “blatant human rights violation which threatens the career of a young man.”
Update: After interrogation for hours as the police found no terror links, he was subsequently released.