Patel seeks Sushma's intervention for release of businessman detained in US

Vadodara: Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel has sought Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj's intervention for the release of city-based businessman Paraman Radhakrishnan who was detained by the authorities at a US airport.

Radhakrishnan (53) was taken into custody by the police in the US state of North Dakota on Saturday for allegedly triggering a bomb threat at an airport as he told a travel agent that there was an explosive in his bag.

"Swaraj should look into the matter of Radhakrishnan and take steps for his early release," Patel, political secretary of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, told reporters here.

Parimal Nathwani, an Independent MP in Rajya Sabha, too requested Swaraj to look into the matter and help the family members of the businessman.

The businessman's wife Renu, in a tweet to Swaraj, said, "My husband Radhakrishnan is an honest man with a passion for energy conservation."

Several friends of the businessman too have sought the support of the External Affairs Minister for his early release claiming that he was falsely implicated in the case.

Radhakrishnan was on a week-long business trip to the US and was returning home when he checked in for a flight from Grand Forks in North Dakota to Minneapolis, Minnesota early on Saturday.