KOCHI: Multiple agencies have launched a probe after a satellite phone was confiscated from a Canadian national at Kochi airport. A detailed probe is being conducted as the phone was recovered from the passenger while on his return journey from Kerala.
According to police, the satellite phone was recovered from a passenger while he was boarding a Singapore Airlines flight from the airport on Tuesday. The Canadian citizen came to India on a tourist visa recently.
“The passenger claimed that he was unaware that keeping a satellite phone in India was banned. He says he did not use the phone. However, the passenger did not declare that he had a satellite phone in his possession,” a police officer said.
Nedumbassery police, who have initiated a probe into the incident, submitted the phone to Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Angamaly. The phone will be sent for forensic analysis for further probe. The state and Central intelligence agencies are also looking into the incident as the satellite phone was not detected at the airport when the Canadian national arrived in India.
Recently, police recovered a satellite phone from a person at Vizhinjam in Thiruvananthapuram following a tip-off received from the Military intelligence. Often, tourists unaware of regulations in possessing satellite phones, carry them while travelling to India. Their use is prohibited in the country under Indian telecom regulations.