Court frees Algerian man

Tambaram: Saleem Abbasi, the 42-year-old Algeria-born man with a Qatar passport, who spent four days in the Puzhal prison, was set free by a court here on Tuesday evening after the police submitted that they were not pressing charges against him or asking for an extension of his remand. Mr. Abbasi had reached Chennai from Kuala Lumpur on the night of June 18. He was detained by the airport authorities as his name figured in a “red corner notice” issued by Interpol.
Police sources said a case under Section 41 (1) (g) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (arrest on the grounds of reasonable suspicion) was registered and Mr. Abbasi was lodged in prison.
On Monday, the Assistant Director of Interpol, New Delhi, sent an urgent communication through the National Central Bureau of the Central Bureau of Investigation to C. Mugilan, Inspector of Police, Chennai Airport, with a copy to S.N. Seshasai, Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Crime Branch CID, asking for the release of Mr. Abbasi.
The letter, a copy of which was distributed to reporters at the Tambaram court by V. Kannadasan, Special Public Prosecutor (Human Rights Cases), said a communication from Interpol in Algiers had informed their counterparts in New Delhi that the “arrest has been cancelled by the competent Algerian judicial authorities and we ask you to inform the competent Indian judicial authorities that their Algerian counterparts do not intend to extradite the subject from India. In view of the above, it is requested to take appropriate steps immediately for the release of the subject from judicial custody.”
Police said following the communication, they did not press for the extension of Mr. Abbasi’s remand.
Judicial Magistrate P. Saravanan let Mr. Abbasi free.
24/06/09 K. Manikandan/The Hindu

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Categories: Airports Jun 2009, Foreign Jun 2009