[Reader-list] Mind your language at airport in Indian capital

[Harsh Kapoor]

Mind your language at airport in Indian capital

from Indo-Asian News Service

New Delhi, Jan 20 (IANS) All they did was utter a word in Urdu that sounded
like "missile," and two Indians at the airport here suddenly found
themselves being bundled off by the police.

With the attack on the Indian Parliament still fresh in people's minds, a
terror mania is still doing the rounds of Delhi.

Masood, a businessman from Rampur town in Uttar Pradesh, had come with a
friend to receive his teacher at the Indira Gandhi International Airport
here December 20, a week after the Parliament attack. The teacher was coming
from Dubai.

As the flight was delayed, Masood and his friends speculated the possible
causes while waiting at the visitor's lounge.

Masood told his friend in Urdu: "Wonder what 'masaail' (problems) would have
happened. There are lots of 'masaail' in the airport. Customs clearance is
one 'masaail' then there are other 'masaail'..."

That's when an alert young man, Sameer, thought there was something fishy
about the conversation, mistaking the word "masaail" for "missile."

Sameer immediately told the police that the bearded Masood and his friend
were talking about a "missile" at the airport. Within minutes the police
zeroed in on Masood.

A perplexed Masood pleaded that he did not know about any missile at the
airport and explained that he had actually said "masaail," not "missile".

But still the police reportedly handed them over to the Intelligence Bureau.

Masood and his friend's fingerprints and photographs were taken from
different angles. They were let off after nearly 12 hours.

Sanjeev Gupta, a police officer at the airport, told IANS: "It was a minor
thing. We just talked to them for a few hours. They were released after some
clarification. We have to be vigilant given the kind of threat the city is
facing. We cannot take a chance."

--Indo-Asian News Service