A man in Kerala got in trouble after his car, which had a sticker of the deceased terrorist Osama Bin Laden on the boot, was seized by the police. The car was traced back to Rameez, a resident of Kollam, who was then questioned.
A passerby had spotted the images of Osama Bin Laden on the car and had alerted the police. When police stopped the car, it had three passengers inside who had borrowed the car from Rameez for a function.
One of them, Haneef, a 22-year-old student, allegedly told police had he had put the images of Bin Laden on the car’s boot. “He said that put the Bin Laden image on the car so that it would stand out. We are investigating more details about the incident," SHO of Eravipuram police station told TNM.
According to the police, the owner of the car, Rameez, had bought it last year through an online platform from someone in West Bengal. However, though he got possession of the car, the ownership remains in the name of West Bengal seller. The car still has a West Bengal registration plate; and while Rameez got the NOC for the same five months ago, he had not yet applied for the ownership change, police said.
While Haneef and Rameez were questioned, there is no police complaint against the duo, and they were let off on the condition that they would have to appear before the police again if and when called.
This comes at a time when many Indian states including Kerala is on high alert after the suicide bomb blasts rocked the neighbouring country Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday. A few days ago, the NIA had arrested Islamic State sympathiser Riyas Aboobacker from Kerala. The agency said that he was a follower of Zahran Hashim, who masterminded the Sri Lanka Easter bombings and wanted to carry out a suicide attack in Kerala.