Cleric arrest case: Police file closure report in court
The Delhi Police has filed a report in a court here seeking closure of a case against an Islamic cleric who was arrested for allegedly making suspicious remarks onboard a London-bound flight.
The report was filed in a Dwarka court on Saturday, sources said.The action came after Delhi Police Commissioner Y S Dadwal said it appeared to be a case of "miscommunication" and the Home Ministry intervened to ensure the cleric's release.
Nurul Huda, a Deoband cleric and resident of Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh, was offloaded from an Emirates Airways flight from Delhi to London via Dubai after a woman co- passenger complained about his "suspicious" talk over phone.
The woman told the cabin crew that she heard him saying over phone that "jahaz udne wala hai, ham udane wala hai" (the plane is about to take off, we are about to blow up), police said. The cleric told police he was only telling somebody that "jahaz udne wala hai (the plane is about to fly)".
Earlier on Saturday, Huda left the capital for Deoband after he was freed on bail. The court granted him bail as the police did not press the offence registered under non-bailable Section 505 (creating rumour resulting in public nuisance) of IPC. He had also been charged under Section 341 (wrongfully restraining a person) which is a bailable provision.
Home Minister P Chidambaram had instructed Home Secretary G K Pillai who told Dadwal that "a wrong case" has been slapped on Huda and since there was no reason to keep him behind bars, he should be set free, MHA sources said.Sources close to Huda said they were yet to take a call on suing the Delhi police for arresting the cleric on "false charges".
