Arrested US national has no terror links, says home ministry

NEW DELHI - US national Winston Marshall, who was detained at the Indira Gandhi International Airport late Wednesday after a knife was found in his baggage, does not seem to have any terror links, home ministry sources said here Friday.

“From the interrogation, it does not seem that he had any terror links. But his moments and repeated lying about the knife blade had created suspicion,” a senior home ministry official said.

Police sources said the US national might be kept for one more day for interrogation and could be charged under the Arms Act. “Nothing is final right now,” a police official said.

Marshall, who converted to Islam over 15 years ago from Christianity, was stopped by Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel when he was boarding a Qatar Airways flight to Doha.

Suspicion was aroused when Marshall repeatedly lied about the presence of a knife blade found in his baggage. After discovering from his passport that he had come to India after travelling to Pakistan and Bangladesh recently, security personnel took him aside for questioning.

“That he was travelling via Doha to New York, the concealment of the knife and his recent trips abroad… all raised suspicion. We had no option but to hand him over to the investigating agencies,” a CISF official said.

The American embassy was informed by the Foreigners Regional Registration Office, while Marshall was taken to Lampur detention centre on the outskirts of the national capital where he was interrogated by multiple security agencies.