Indian detainees' kin mull legal action

Relatives of those who had been detained by Dutch authorities on Friday allege the 12 were 'victimised'.

Relatives of the twelve men, detained by Dutch authorities for suspicious behaviour, on Friday, alleged that their kin were 'victimised' for seemingly no valid reason, with some contemplating legal action against the airline authorities.

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"We travel all over the world for our garment business. The twelve men who have been detained are from the same locality. They have done nothing wrong and have been unnecessarily victimised," said Iqbal Chapalwala, whose brother was one of those detained for "suspicious behaviour" on the Northwest Airline flight to Mumbai.

"We are really distraught at this turn of events. We have not been able to get in touch with my brother since the flight was escorted back (to Amsterdam's Schipol airport). Is it wrong if someone jokes around in the plane?," he asked.

Chapalwala said the twelve men were all from Memon colony in Jogeshwari and had gone to Port of Spain to attend a trade fair. "This behaviour has really hurt us. We hope our government helps us in this matter. The media has already helped us a lot," he added.