Pilot grounded in Delhi jail

Srinagar: When he should have been in the skies, a young Kashmiri pilot trained from a leading Indian aeronautical institute is languishing in a Delhi jail for the past six months.
Imran Ahmad Kirmani, 25, was arrested at New Delhi airport on November 16, 2006, passed off as a Lashker-e-Toiba militant, and sent to jail. His family has approached President APJ Abdul Kalam, but to no avail.
“He’s innocent and has been framed,” said Imran’s father Ghulam Rasool, a resident of north Kashmir’s Handwara town.
Imran joined the Rajiv Gandhi Memorial College of Aeronautics Jaipur in 2003 and graduated as a pilot after two years of intense training. He applied at various aviation service providers. One fine morning he received job offer from the Jet Airways and left for Delhi on November 16.
For some days, his father said, he did not contact his family. “We thought he must be busy and would call later. But while watching television on November 22, to our shock and disbelief, we saw Imran handcuffed. The Special Cell of Delhi Police, which nurses a deep-seated grudge against Kashmiris, had dubbed him as a militant of Lashker-e-Toiba,” Rasool said.
“I rushed to Delhi. I met him in a lockup. He was brutally tortured…and pleaded to take him out of the hell,” he said. “I had sold a piece of land and gave Imran Rs 4 lakh for booking a flat in Delhi. The cops seized the money from him and distributed among themselves.”
Heartbroken, Rasool said he went to many officials from Kashmir to Delhi for his son’s release. Finally, he submitted a memorandum to President APJ Abdul Kalam.
“(But) over a month has passed and I did not receive any intimation. I have learnt that the file is gathering dust in the North Block,” Rasool rued.
“My son’s career has been ruined. My last wish is to see him as a freeman; I will fight for it,” he said in a broken voice.
24/05/07 Arif Shafi Wani/GreaterKashmir.com (press release)

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Categories: General Aviation May 2007, Jet Airways May 2007