“Stopped from leaving India at Bangalore airport", says Aakar Patel

|HT|

Former Amnesty India chief Aakar Patel said on Wednesday he was stopped at the Bengaluru airport from boarding a flight to the United States. “stopped from leaving India at Bangalore airport. am on the exit control list. Got passport back through court order specifically for this trip to the US,” Patel posted on Twitter. Tagging the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the activist then said he was told by the immigration that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has put him on 'the list.’ “CBI officer called to say I am on the Look-Out Circular because of the case Modi govt has filed against Amnesty India,” he said in a subsequent tweet.

In November 2019, the agency raided Amnesty India’s office in Bengaluru over accusations of irregularities in foreign funding, due to which, the CBI said, the human rights body was in violation of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA). It then filed a case against Amnesty India and three associate organisations. In September 2020, Amnesty International announced it is closing its India operations due to a ‘witch-hunt’ against its Indian arm by the government of India.

Meanwhile, the latest development comes two days after the Delhi high court granted conditional nod to journalist Rana Ayyub to travel abroad after she was stopped at the Mumbai airport from flying to London, on March 29, on the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) request.

The ED is probing Ayyub on charges of money laundering.

(Except for the headline and the pictorial description, this story has not been edited by THE DEN staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)