Miscommunication led to Deoband cleric’s arrest, says Dadwal

NEW DELHI - The scare aboard a London-bound flight Thursday following a telephonic conversation by a Deoband cleric looks to be a case of miscommunication, Delhi Police Commissioner Y.S. Dadwal said Friday.

“It could have been a case of miscommunication. However, we are continuing our probe. We are checking his antecedents,” Dadwal told reporters here.

Noor-ul-Huda, who runs Farooqiya Madrasa in Deoband, was arrested in the capital after a woman passenger complained to the flight crew that she heard him having a “dangerous conversation”.

The woman told the crew that Huda said in Arabic on his cell phone that he would be blowing up the flight in about 15 minutes, whereas Huda told the police he had merely said the flight would be taking off in about 15 minutes, according to reports.

Huda was on his way to London to deliver some lectures. He was presented in a city court and granted bail.