[size=2]NEW DELHI: Two British nationals were detained for questioning in the Indian capital over suspicious behaviour near the international airport, police said on Tuesday.
The men were being questioned at the Radisson Hotel near the airport for “suspicious activity,” New Delhi police spokesman Rajan Bhagat told AFP.
He would not comment on media reports that the men were carrying equipment to track distant aircraft.
The Hindustan Times identified the men as Stephen Hampston, in his mid-40s, and 56-year-old Steven Martin, and said they were detained on Monday night at the hotel after staff raised concerns they might be spying.
The Press Trust of India news agency said police found sophisticated equipment on the men that could track aircraft, including military planes.
“The equipment, which is believed to have the capacity to track an aircraft around 100 kilometres (away, is being examined by experts,” the news agency quoted an unnamed senior police official as saying.
The news agency reported the men told Indian officials that the equipment was simply meant for plane-spotting – a hobby in which people observe and log aircraft registration numbers.
Other media reports said the men were carrying powerful binoculars, equipment for tracking exchanges between pilots and air traffic control and a map of the Delhi airport but no links to terrorist activity had been established.
British High Commission spokeswoman Kitty Tawakley said the mission was “aware of this case”.
“We are providing consular assistance,” she told AFP.
The popular plane-spotting website Airliners.net | Airplanes - Aviation - Aircraft- Aircraft Photos & News has a member called Steve Martin based in Britain, though AFP was unable to confirm if this was the man detained in Delhi.
India arrests two Britons suspected of spying,2/17/2010 7:52:21 PM
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