Hours after a high alert was announced in Bengaluru after a man was seen on CCTV refusing to be frisked at the city’s Majestic Metro station, a commuter, who was also seen in the footage, came forward to the police accusing the media of branding him as a terrorist. Following a background check, the police have ruled out any threat from him, confirming he was a regular commuter.
The visuals circulated by the media showed a man wearing a white kurta with a black vest entering the security gate at Majestic (Nadaprabhu Kempegowda) Metro Station and being stopped by the security personnel. He, however, refused to be frisked by the security and left the station. Police are still on the look out for the man in the black vest.
In the CCTV footage accessed by the police, a man named Riyas Ahmed was also seen entering the Metro station just before the man in the black vest. After walking past the metal detector, Riyas, however, entered the station and proceeded for the train.
Riyas, a 49-year-old resident approached the Upparpet Police saying that his photograph had been used by the media accusing him of being the man in the CCTV footage. Riyas alleged that the news had caused him mental harassment. The police said that after conducting background check, they concluded that Riyas is a regular commuter and travels from Nayandahalli to Majestic on a daily basis and was not the man in the black vest.
"Riyas Ahmed, a 49-year-old resident of Gangondanahalli in Bengaluru came to the Upparpet Police Station at around 4 pm and filed a complaint. He has said he is a regular commuter and that when the security guard asked him to pull his kurta up, he said he felt uncomfortable to do so in front of everyone. He walked into the metro station. He later saw his face on TV and saw that people were calling him a terrorist. He said that this has caused him immense mental harassment as people in his neighbourhood are looking at him in a wary manner,” DCP West Ravi D Channannavar told reporters on Wednesday.
In his complaint, Riyas stated that he owns a small watch repair stall at the Majestic Bus Stand's subway. “He said that he travels by metro every day and on May 6 too. He entered the metro station,” DCP West added.
Meanwhile, Upparpet Police have formed a team to probe who leaked the video to the media and spread the false information that Riyaz Ahmed is a suspected terrorist.
Earlier in the day, City Police Commissioner T Suneel Kumar had addressed the press announcing four police teams were formed to trace the man in the black vest after the security staff at the metro station found his behaviour ‘suspicious’. CCTV visuals showed the red light go on when he walked past the metal detector.