Man held at KIA on suspicion of IS links, then let off

Sleuths of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the State Intelligence detained a 27-year-old man at the Kempegowda International Airport on suspicion that he has links with the Islamic State but later released him as they found him innocent.

According to police sources, the man, who is a software engineer and a native of Trichy in Tamil Nadu, had come from Dubai on a Jet Airways flight and reached KIA at around 10.45 pm.

He told the police that he had come to Bengaluru to meet his friends and was headed for Trichy by bus.

The man was travelling by a Hindu name according to his passport, but his attire was that of a Muslim, police sources said.

Converted to Islam

He claimed to the police that he was a Brahmin before and had converted to Islam around six months ago. He also mentioned his new Muslim name to the sleuths.

Police said they had enough grounds and reasons to detain him over this. Moreover, they also learned that the man’s family in Tamil Nadu had lodged a police complaint with a local police station that they suspect their son could have been brainwashed by extremist elements from West Asian countries. After the sleuths learned that he had no links with any terror outfits, he was allowed to go, sources added.