New Delhi:
After David Headley, another American national is facing questions over terror. A sixty one-year-old American national created a stir at the Indira Gandhi International Airport early on Wednesday morning, the security forces detained him for carrying a knife blade concealed in shilajit, an Ayurvedic substance. The man, identified as Winston Marshall, was to board Qatar airways flight to Doha.
"When he was checking in at 3 am our Sub-Inspector at screening got suspicious of him and then his hand bag was physically searched but nothing was found then all the contents were scanned individually. Then an alloy weighing 500-550 gm was detected which looked like a knife. The alloy was broken and the blade was found," said Udayan Banerjee, DIG, CISF.
Banerjee added: "He claimed to have bought the alloy from Pakistan and called it shilajit. We checked his passport and his travel advisory raised suspicion. He had travelled to Pakistan and Bangladesh in a small span of time."
Tough the police is yet to register a case against him.
Initial investigations reveal:
Marshall has been sent to the Foreigners Regional Registration office's Lampur detention centre while the agencies are checking every minute detail of his travel itinerary. The American embassy meanwhile has been informed.
Even after 24 hours of interrogation the security agencies are not sure if this is just a false alarm or does Marshall have some terror links, and now they say they may need at least two more days to verify details before they can give any clear answers.
"When he was checking in at 3 am our Sub-Inspector at screening got suspicious of him and then his hand bag was physically searched but nothing was found then all the contents were scanned individually. Then an alloy weighing 500-550 gm was detected which looked like a knife. The alloy was broken and the blade was found," said Udayan Banerjee, DIG, CISF.
Banerjee added: "He claimed to have bought the alloy from Pakistan and called it shilajit. We checked his passport and his travel advisory raised suspicion. He had travelled to Pakistan and Bangladesh in a small span of time."
Tough the police is yet to register a case against him.
Initial investigations reveal:
- Marshall is not of American origin and converted to Islam some years ago
- He is from New York and had drug related offences against him
- He has a multiple-entry tourist visa
- He travelled to Pakistan via Wagah
- He had travelled to Dhaka from Kolkata by road
Marshall has been sent to the Foreigners Regional Registration office's Lampur detention centre while the agencies are checking every minute detail of his travel itinerary. The American embassy meanwhile has been informed.
Even after 24 hours of interrogation the security agencies are not sure if this is just a false alarm or does Marshall have some terror links, and now they say they may need at least two more days to verify details before they can give any clear answers.
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