Indian arrested at Houston airport with "Jihadi" material

[S_O_C_O_M]

Indian arrested at Houston airport with "Jihadi" material​

Washington, August 25, 2010

Narayan Lakshman

There is little doubt that insecurity about all things Islamic has gripped the United States. First it was the fierce war of words over the mosque to be built near the site of the 9/11 attacks. Then it was the startling revelation that nearly one in five Americans believed that President Barack Obama was a Muslim.

And now, in a tale dripping with irony, an Indian on his way to Houston, Texas, to deliver a lecture to the Hindu Congress of America has been arrested for possessing what has been described by authorities as “Jihadi material.”

Vijay Kumar (40), a documentary film-maker, was arrested at George Bush Intercontinental Airport last Friday after officials noticed him behaving oddly in the line for a security check.

According to reports, when Mr. Kumar was taken aside for secondary screening, his baggage was found to contain books and diagrams on espionage, information on U.S. military weaponry, and numerous publications mentioning on the subject of Jihad, including the mention of “infidels.” When a set of brass knuckles, approximately $8,000, and more cash in other foreign currencies was uncovered in his bags, he was immediately arrested.

The Houston Examiner quoted one law enforcement officer as saying, “He had a ton of books," including publications written in Arabic, adding, “It definitely raised our concerns... Not your everyday passenger would have this sort of stuff and it definitely poses a concern for anyone involved in airport security.”

Local media also reported that in Texas, brass-knuckles were prohibited by law so Mr. Kumar was booked on a felony charge of possessing a prohibited weapon in a prohibited place.

Further unconfirmed reports suggested that a machine for testing explosive materials was set off by Mr. Kumar’s bags, prompting a scare that he was carrying a bomb. However that turned out to be a false alarm, with a second and third test of his bags both showing negative results.

After his arrest Mr. Kumar’s bond was initially listed as $50,000. That was reduced to $5,000 after a hearing on Monday at a Harris County District Court.

Texas media quoted Mr. Kumar’s attorney Grant Scheiner confirming that Mr. Kumar had surrendered his passport while considered the bail offer. Mr. Scheiner said, “I think that everybody realized that he is not a threat. He's a peaceful man.”

Mr. Scheiner added that Mr. Kumar was in Houston to deliver a lecture to the Hindu Congress of America on an interfaith discussion between Hindus and Muslims about the harms of terrorism.

The Hindu : News / International : Indian arrested at Houston airport with "Jihadi" material

 

[RobbieS]

According to the latest news, the guy has been granted bail.

 

[Delhi]

According to reports, when Mr. Kumar was taken aside for secondary screening, his baggage was found to contain books and diagrams on espionage, information on U.S. military weaponry, and numerous publications mentioning on the subject of Jihad, including the mention of “infidels.” When a set of brass knuckles, approximately $8,000, and more cash in other foreign currencies was uncovered in his bags, he was immediately arrested.

The Houston Examiner quoted one law enforcement officer as saying, “He had a ton of books," including publications written in Arabic, adding, “It definitely raised our concerns... Not your everyday passenger would have this sort of stuff and it definitely poses a concern for anyone involved in airport security.”

WTF is this all jihadi material

 

[GentlemanObserver]

WTF is this all jihadi material

It was confirmed on SKYNEWS he had a copy of the Terrorists Cookbook and the US ARMY Field Manual on MOUT. Sorry to say but yeah these are the kind of books terrorists use.

Why would a normal person keep a copy of explosive formulas in his or her luggage?

 

[Delhi]

It was confirmed on SKYNEWS he had a copy of the Terrorists Cookbook and the US ARMY Field Manual on MOUT. Sorry to say but yeah these are the kind of books terrorists use.

Why would a normal person keep a copy of explosive formulas in his or her luggage?

Do you thing a terrorist carrying these kind of books?? may be he is interested to read these type of book ?? Why court grant him bail ???

Now every thing is available on net and this is common sense that no one is that much stupid that he is a terrorist and carrying these type of material at airport

 

[GentlemanObserver]

Do you thing a terrorist carrying these kind of books?? may be he is interested to read these type of book ?? Why court grant him bail ???

Now every thing is available on net and this is common sense that no one is that much stupid that he is a terrorist and carrying these type of material at airport

LOL

I wonder if you would say that if he was a Pakistani. My friend according to the UK and USA, possession of material promoting or advocating terrorism or provocative texts such as "explosive formulas" are crimes punishable under the Anti Terrorism Court.

Go do your research, as for why he was granted bail. He said to the court he was doing a lecture on Islamic Terrorism for a muslim conference.

And just in case you have this material, and travel to the US or UK, you will be detained and if you don't have a valid reason, you can be arrested under the ATA.

 

[Devil Soul]

If ur a muslim ur a TERRORIST & if ur a non muslim and are captured having this kinda stuff ur just a researcher ..

 

[Delhi]

LOL

I wonder if you would say that if he was a Pakistani. My friend according to the UK and USA, possession of material promoting or advocating terrorism or provocative texts such as "explosive formulas" are crimes punishable under the Anti Terrorism Court.

Go do your research, as for why he was granted bail. He said to the court he was doing a lecture on Islamic Terrorism for a muslim conference.

And just in case you have this material, and travel to the US or UK, you will be detained and if you don't have a valid reason, you can be arrested under the ATA.

I think you already provide the answer

but


An Indian documentary filmmaker has been arrested at the Houston airport for allegedly carrying suspicious Islamic jihad literature, brass knuckles and $10,000 in cash.

40-year-old Vijay Kumar was arrested at the George Bush Intercontinental airport on Friday after he was spotted "acting suspicious," when screeners thought they saw a possible handgun in a scan of his baggage.

Investigators found brass knuckles, a manual for a handgun and Islamic literature in Kumar's checked luggage.

State district judge David Mendoza yesterday lowered Kumar's bail from $50,000 to $5,000 after learning more details about the case and that prosecutors were willing to let him plead to time served for unlawfully carrying a weapon in an airport.

Kumar was in Houston to lecture a Hindu organisation about Islamic fundamentalism and the books packed in his checked luggage were educational tools, authorities and his lawyer told the court.

Attorneys for Kumar said that he has surrendered his passport while he mulls the deal. He does not want a criminal record to interfere next time he visits the US, his attorney Grant Scheiner said.

"I think that everybody realised that he is not a threat. He's a peaceful man," Scheiner said.

"He was here to visit the Hindu Congress of America, to deliver a lecture. It was about an interfaith discussion between Hindus and Muslims about the harms of terrorism."

Scheiner said that Kumar, who speaks very little English, carries the brass knuckles for protection in India.

When Kumar was pulled aside for secondary screening, after raising suspicion with the transportation security administration 'behavioural detection officers,' even more alarm was raised by what was found.

The title of one book was Spycraft and another was titled New Voices of Islam and police noticed mentions of "infidels" in some of the writings that could be made out clearly, the Houston Chronicle reported.

"It definitely raised our concerns," said one law enforcement official involved in the arrest.

"Not your everyday passenger would have this sort of stuff and it definitely poses a concern for anyone involved in airport security," he said.

The books and radical material was found in stacks, packed in Kumar's carry-on luggage, according to the police report.

Officers also found a pair of brass-knuckles in the luggage he had checked with his airline to be carried in the cargo hold of the aircraft.

In Texas, brass-knuckles are prohibited by law so he was booked on a felony charge of Possessing a Prohibited Weapon in a Prohibited Place (airport).

FBI agents, who were called to the secondary screening area where Kumar was being detained, checked his name on terror watch lists and 'no fly' lists, but there is no indication that his name has appeared on any of those lists.

Besides, police also confiscated more than $10,000 in cash that Kumar is accused of carrying on his trip and the per Federal law he had not declared the currency.

Police and FBI agents said they were turning their attention to Kumar's background and what he was doing in Houston, and they're also planning to examine a computer flash drive (or "thumb drive") that Kumar was carrying.

Flash drives can hold thousands of documents or diagrams, but no one had seen the contents as of Friday.

A search warrant may be required to view the thumb drive, even though international passengers typically have fewer legal protections when the government wants to look at something they were going to be carrying onto an airliner.

Kumar told police he was in Houston attending an "Islamic seminar."

A search of federal court records in Houston shows a 2007 lawsuit filed by a man with the same name, same age and same hometown as Kumar.

In that lawsuit, Kumar described himself as a native and citizen of India, who was admitted to the United States in 2004 on a student visa to the University of Connecticut.

The lawsuit said he had earlier studied at Texas Tech University after entering the US in 2003.

He then transferred to University of Connecticut, where the lawsuit said he earned an MBA degree to bolster his undergraduate engineering degree.

The lawsuit said he married a US citizen in 2004 and he filed to change his immigration status to allow him to remain in the US past his student visa in 2005.

His lawsuit claims FBI has been holding up his citizenship paperwork by claiming it couldn't complete the proper background checks.


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[GentlemanObserver]

^^ What was the point of highlight the parts in RED, last time i checked i was the one who informed you he was a lecturer. That is almost as silly as preaching to the converted.

LOL.