The Emirates flight carrying 356 passengers was grounded yesterday for four hours before take off after the airline's office received a phone call claiming that Khan, on board the aircraft, was an LeT operative.
Deplaned passenger of Dubai-bound Emirates flight Shahbaz Khan, who was suspected to be a terrorist and questioned, today said he would sue authorities for maligning his name and causing him great inconvenience by not allowing him to travel.
"I have been serving people as a social worker for decades. People love and respect me for the service I have rendered to them. But it took only five minutes to label me as a terrorist... this is disgusting," an angry Khan told PTI.
The Emirates flight carrying 356 passengers was grounded yesterday at the Mumbai airport for four hours before take off after the airline's office received a phone call from a person claiming that Khan, on board the aircraft, was an LeT operative. He was let off after 10 hours of detention.
"I strongly suspect either political opponents or those who had eye on my property would have done this. The motive obviously would have been to malign my image and trouble me," said 60-year-old Khan, who claimed to have been associated with Congress since 1968.
"I was told that TV news channels were describing me as suspected terrorist. Who informed them I am a terrorist? I will sue the authorities for providing false information to media and harassing me," Khan said.
Narrating the chain of events leading to his detention, Khan said "I boarded the flight at about 9.30 am. Initially, we were told that the flight was not taking off due to technical problem and also that the runway was busy.
"Two hours later, an officer entered the aircraft and inquired for me," Khan said. The officer offloaded and he was escorted by armed security personnel to Cargo complex gate and asked to stand there. He was there till 2.30 pm.
"I sensed something was wrong. But the security personnel did not tell me what had happened," Khan said. Then Khan got a call from an acquaintance who told him that TV channels were describing him as suspected terrorist.
"For a while, I was shocked. But I mustered courage to face the situation," he said. At 2.30pm, I was taken to the cabin of Assistant Foreigners Registration Officer (AFRO) where I was told the reason for detention.
After questioning his statement was recorded by security personnel including Intelligence Bureau, Anti-Terrorism Squad and CID, Khan claimed adding that his wife waited for him in other cabin.
Khan claimed he was once again questioned at Sahar Airport Police station at about 5.30 pm and was detained there for five more hours.
At 10.30 pm, he was relieved by police, who escorted him to his residence and obtained the photo copies of his ration card, he said.
"Since my son and I are locked in a property dispute, police might have suspected his role," he said on his son Arif's name cropping up in the incident.
Khan said he was landlord of Shaheen Mansion building in the commercial Fort area. The building houses 15 tenants, who are being harassed by his younger son Arif for the past two years, he said.
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