Siliguri (West Bengal): A US citizen Thomas Esroh Seitz (45) was arrested at West Bengal's Bagdogra airport for carrying a satellite phone on Friday. Police sources said that three American citizens reached Bagdogra airport to catch a flight to Delhi. However, when the CISF personnel checked their luggage, one of them was carrying a satellite phone.
In India, there are restrictions on using satellite phones. It is illegal to carry and use satellite phones without special permission. As such, the airport security asked him for valid documents to justify carrying the phone, which the foreigner failed to do. Following it, the CISF jawans arrested him and handed him over to the police.
Police have launched an investigation into the incident based on the complaint by CISF and confiscated the foreigner's passport. Bagdogra police station registered a case under the Indian Wireless and Telegraph Act of the Indian Penal Code and sent the American citizen to court. Later, the police arrested another person in the incident.
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Preliminary investigation suggests the American citizen came to India on January 12 and is an employee of an American firm Shield AI. The company works as a satellite phone supplier through cargo. The arrested person collected one such cargo on January 16. Three members of the company went to Lachung in Sikkim for army drone training.
Bagdogra police station incharge OC Nirmal Das said, "One person has been arrested. Police have started an investigation into the matter." Police are also probing whether the arrested foreigner had come to India to train the army in drones or whether there was any spying involved in his visit. According to army sources, the American company Shield AI and India's JSW were jointly working on drone training for the Indian Army.
The US citizen is said to have arrived in India to provide training on how to carry out high-quality surveillance with the help of drones, especially in border areas. After training on Friday, he went to Bagdogra airport to catch a flight to Delhi en route to America.
