Italian proffessor caught with satellite phone

Chennai: In a second incident this month and the third this year, a foreign national in possession of a satellite phone was detained at Chennai airport on Saturday by CISF personnel on security duty.
The passenger, a 69-year-old from Bologna in Italy, was identified as Neri Giovanni, a university professor. The sexagenarian arrived in the city on December 24 by a Lufthansa flight and was staying at a city hotel for the past two days, the police said. He was leaving for Colombo on a Sri Lankan Airlines flight on Saturday morning when the CISF personnel detained him.

“He was carrying a satellite phone in his hand luggage,” a police officer said, adding that carrying satellite phones is banned in the country for security reasons. After a brief interrogation by airport security personnel, he was handed over to the airport S-2 police who informed the security branch officials of the state police.

“We have informed the Italian consulate and are in possession of his passport details. After a thorough check of his background he will be allowed to travel,” said a senior police officer. He added, “We have also sent the phone for forensic tests to find if any communication was made using the phone during his stay in the city.” The officer added that the man would not have been detained had he carried the set in his check-in luggage. Most often, foreign nationals are unaware that satellite phones are banned for use in the country, he added.