By TCN News,
Mumbai: A Muslim couple today was offloaded from an Emirates flight from Mumbai to Dubai after a co-passenger Suresh Chavan told the airline that a passenger called Shahbaz Khan was an “al-Qaeda terrorist.” Khan and his wife were immediately detained.
Emirates Airlines flight EK 505 with 356 passengers was rolling on the runway at 0959 hours when Chavan called the cargo supervisor of the flight claiming that he overheard someone saying Shahbaz was a terrorist, say media reports.
The plane was pushed back to the runway and the air traffic control informed the airport that there was a security hazard on board. All passengers were asked to leave the plane and their baggage and the aircraft was checked again. Nothing objectionable was found in the plane or with the passengers including the couple. Yet, the couple was detained for further questioning while the accuser was allowed to go. Surprisingly, the authorities did not think it necessary to hold the accuser also to help them in investigation. The plane left with all passengers except the couple at 1404 hours for Dubai.
Media reports say that while Khan has been detained by the local police his wife has been sent home as she is heart patient.