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Saudi Aramco officer jailed in Uttarakhand for carrying satellite phone: Reports
Fergus MacLeod, who was arrested from a hotel on July 12, said he had been unaware of the ban, which was introduced after such devices were used by terrorists who attacked Mumbai in 2008.
A senior British executive of oil giant Saudi Aramco reportedly had to spend nearly a week in a Chamoli in Uttarakhand jail after taking a banned satellite phone to a yoga retreat. Fergus MacLeod, head of investor relations at Saudi Aramco, was released after paying a fine of ₹1,000, reported UK's Financial Times.
MacLeod, who was arrested from a hotel on July 12, said he had been unaware of the ban, which was introduced after such devices were used by terrorists who attacked Mumbai in 2008, the report added.
MacLeod, 62, was then taken to a prison where he was held “in a communal cell with long-term prisoners who had committed very serious crimes”.
MacLeod remained in the Chamoli prison till July 18. The executive, who had been on holiday with friends, including some colleagues from Saudi Aramco, said he was treated well throughout the ordeal.
MacLeod had allegedly turned on and off the satellite phone in his hotel room but he claimed that he did not use it.
MacLeod told the newspaper that he had bought the satellite phone in the UK in 2017 and usually used it when travelling in remote parts of Saudi Arabia in case of an emergency in an area with poor mobile signal.
MacLeod is an Oxford graduate and previously worked in a number of financial and energy sector roles including at Deutsche Bank.
A spokesperson for the British High Commission in New Delhi said, “We provided consular support to a British man in India.”
“He did not have any idea that it is not legal to carry a satellite phone in India (without prior permission) and he carried it with him. That is why he was detained. There was nothing wrong in the process,” The Indian Express quoted Chamoli SP Shweta Choubey as saying.
Narendra Singh Rawat, SHO of Govind Ghat police station in Chamoli, said on July 11 they received information about a foreign national carrying a satellite phone in an area close to the border, the daily added.
“We sent a policeman to confirm that the man was carrying a satellite phone. It was confirmed. He was travelling to the Valley of Flowers and was detained from there,” the SHO said.
