Abdul Haq Muneeri, who spots skull cap and has long beard, however, denied that his detention and subsequent deportation had anything to do with his religion or his place of origin
By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,
Bengaluru: Abdul Haq Muneeri, who hails from Bhatkal and is a dealer of ACC cement, was detained along with his wife at the Hong Kong Airport by immigration officers on June 12. Muneeri and his wife were deported to Bengaluru on June 13 from the Airport.
Muneeri and his wife were travelling in a group of 42 people on a ‘tourism package’ given by the ACC Company to its dealers as part of its marketing strategy. The news of their detention and subsequent deportation came just days after the news of a Bhatkalli youth being unfairly detained at the Bangalore airport.
File Photo of Abdul Haq Muneeri
Muneeri, who spots skull cap and has long beard, however, denied that his detention and subsequent deportation had anything to do with his religion or his place of origin. Speaking to TwoCircles.net over Phone, he said, “If only we were detained, I could have thought so, but I found that in total that day they deported about 14-15 people who belonged to several parts of the country, including a Sikh couple.”
He, however, said that he was not given any reason by the airport authorities as to why they were being deported. “After initial questioning the Immigration officers took us to a room and made us sit for few hours. An Indian origin person then came and questioned us about reason of our travel and other such details,” he said.
Muneeri said that of the 42 people in the group other 40 had already been cleared by the immigration and despite his pleading that they came together on a holiday tour sponsored by their company ACC, they did not relent.
He also said that in the group of 42 people, barring three-four couples, most of the other people were Muslims, including from Gulbarga, Jaipur, etc. Asked if there was anyone else from Bhatkal, he said, they were only one from the city that has often come in news for the wrong reasons. Many purported Indian Mujahideen members are believed to be from Bhatkal or have studied there.
The old couple were deported finally and reached Bangalore Airport on the mid night of June 13.