Search the Internet          Tips  Links: Terror in America

Minneapolis-Las Vegas flight diverted,
2 Indians arrested on suspicion

Two Sikhs flying from Minneapolis to Las Vegas in the US were on Wednesday arrested after the crew found their behaviour suspicious.

Gurdeep Singh Wander (48) and Harinder Singh (41) were taken into custody at the Fort Smith Regional Airport in Little Rock, Arkansas, to where the plane was diverted, and charged with 'interfering' with the operations of Northwest Airlines Flight 979.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation also arrested Egyptian Alaaeldin Abdelsalam (37) and another person. The former was held for a day while the latter was freed after questioning.

The Airbus A-320, with 94 passengers and a five-member crew on board, landed at Fort Smith at 0955 hours (local time).

Reports said Wander and Singh started their journey from New York. They were on their way to the Exxon Mobil convention and exhibition in Las Vegas, which ended on September 12.

They had missed a connecting flight from Minneapolis to Las Vegas on September 10 night. Since the next flight, on September 11 morning, was full, they were rerouted through Memphis.

After the plane took off, Wander went to the lavatory with a toilet kit.

According to a complaint filed in the federal court in Arkansas, the problem began when 'Wander locked himself in the washroom for what a flight attendant thought was an unusually long time and then repeatedly refused to leave'.

When Wander came out, Singh insisted on using the same washroom. That made flight attendant Deborah Summers suspicious.

The crew diverted the flight to Little Rock, where a bomb detection squad checked the passengers' baggage, but found nothing suspicious.

Deborah told the FBI that she was intimidated by the men.

Brian Marshall, FBI spokesperson in Little Rock, confirmed that three of the four arrested persons had locked themselves in one or more lavatories on the plane.

"The crew made the right decision because we didn't know what was going to happen and neither did they," Jim Duncan, a fellow passenger, was quoted as saying.

Singh is from Pennsylvania and Wander from New Jersey. "Both are businessmen," public attorney George Lucas, who represents them, told rediff.com. "They have denied doing anything wrong. They told the court the crew became suspicious without reason," he said.

The bail hearing for the two Sikhs is scheduled for September 19, an official spokesperson said on Friday.

America's War on Terror: The Complete Coverage
The Attack on US Cities: The Complete Coverage

The Terrorism Weblog: Latest Stories from Around the World

External Link:
For further coverage, please visit www.saja.org/roundupsept11.html

Back to top

Tell us what you think of this report