This is all over Indian media news:
Video 1:
http://www.timesnow.tv/Spl-From-jail-to-immigration-hold/videoshow/4352395.cmsVideo 2:
http://www.timesnow.tv/videoshow/4352425.cmsVijay Kumar, caught allegedly carrying jihadi literature and brass knuckles at Houston airport, is a former RSS pracharak committed to the cause of “protecting the ethos of Indian civilisation”, says D C Nath, former special director of the Intelligence Bureau.
Nath and Kumar are close friends, both members of Patriots' Forum, a charitable trust. Nath said Kumar was originally a New Delhi resident who shifted to Mumbai three years ago to make documentaries on illegal Bangladeshi migrants. Illegal Bangladeshi migrants and the change in demographics was Kumar's chosen subject, Nath said.
Kumar has an interest in real estate and tried his hand as a consultant in both new Delhi and Mumbai, Nath said, but what kept him busy was his documentaries on human rights, gender injustice and illegal migration.
Advocate Navin Chaumal too said Kumar was once associated with the RSS. He had been planning a PIL on Bangladeshi migrants and researching the subject. “He met me days before he left for US, and said we should move the PIL after his return.”
Nath said Kumar had spent his earlier part of life “following spirituality in the Himalayas” after which he moved to New Delhi and tried to set up a company in security services. He set up a company that did not take off, then moved to real estate consultancy, said Nath.
“There are two specific custodies Kumar is involved in, the criminal case custody (for the brass knuckles) and the immigration custody (for the jihadi literature),” criminal defense attorney Grant Scheiner told Newsline from Houston.
“We are moving court today to get the criminal court case hearing postponed. The state is set to revoke his visa. He is expected to be in immigration custody till September 2. The next hearing in the criminal matter was kept for August 27, but with Kumar inside he will not be able to attend it, hence we are going to ask for postponement.”
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/man-held-with-jihadi-papers-has-rss-roots/673067/1Detention of Indian “quite disturbing”
WASHINGTON: The continued detention of Vijay Kumar, the Indian arrested in Houston, Texas, last week for possessing jihadi literature and a set of brass knuckles, is “quite disturbing,” his lawyer said, worrying in particular that he may remain in immigration custody for months on end awaiting a formal trial.
In an interview with The Hindu, Mr. Kumar's attorney Grant Scheiner said that while he did not want to accuse the Federal Bureau of Investigation of overreacting, he wanted it to “connect the dots.”
Mr. Kumar, a documentary filmmaker stopping in the United States en route to Canada, was arrested at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport on Friday after officials were said to have noticed him “fidgeting” and “sweating” in the line for a security check.
Mr. Scheiner pointed out that Houston had seen a spell of unusually hot weather in recent days, and it was hardly surprising that Mr. Kumar was sweating.
However, according to Mr. Scheiner, the more worrying developments in the case occurred this week: although Mr. Kumar posted the bond and was about to leave, the authorities “took him into immigration custody.” Mr. Scheiner said the federal authorities had stepped in and he did not know why, especially as Mr. Kumar was definitely not on any FBI list or the no-fly list.
Further, there appears no clarity on the length of the immigration custody that Mr. Kumar would face, there were “no guarantees that the immigration judge would free him,” after his bail hearing scheduled for Thursday.
Even if he were freed , he would be unable to travel, as he had been asked to surrender his passport. Given that it often take months to set a trial date, Mr. Kumar faces the possibility of remaining in the U.S. for much longer, though he knows no one in this country, Mr. Scheiner said.
On the question of his arrest and subsequent posting of bail, his attorney said the very fact that the “extremely high bond for a third degree felony offence” — set at $50,000 initially — was reduced on Monday to a much lower $5,000 suggested that the judge believed that he meant no harm. “The judge would not have reduced bail if he'd thought Mr. Kumar was a terrorist.”
Regarding Mr. Kumar's behaviour at the airport, Mr. Scheiner said that when he was taken away and interrogated by the authorities, his reaction was fraught with confusion and concern because “he does not speak English very well, he speaks Hindi. Therefore, he was confused when questioned.”
http://www.hindu.com/2010/08/27/stories/2010082753921500.htm
Topic: Storm kicks off over Hindu nationalists arrest in US over jihadi literatures (Read 2127 times)