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Kathmandu Wednesday November 07, 2001 Kartik 22, 2058.
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Faces 10
year jail if convicted
FBI says Gurung not linked to terror plot
By Akhilesh
Upadhyay
NEW YORK, Nov 6 - The
United States has termed as "not accurate" reports that claimed that Subash
Gurung once lived in the apartment building as a detained material witness to the Sept. 11
terrorist attack, media reports said today.
The Chicago Tribune, a
reputed newspaper said citing authorities that there were no allegations that
Gurung’s arrest was linked to the recent spate of terrorist attacks in the United
States.
The 27-year-old Nepali
man, who was arrested at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport late Saturday
for allegedly trying to bring knives and other weapons aboard a United Airlines flight to
Omaha, Nebraska, was ordered held without bond Monday on a federal weapons charge,
according to the Tribune.
Gurung, an unemployed
former warehouse worker, already had been charged in Illinois state court with
misdemeanour counts of unlawful use of a weapon, attempting to board an aircraft with
dangerous weapons and carrying dangerous weapons after he was arrested just prior to
boarding a United Airlines flight to Omaha, Nebraska, on Saturday night. He was released
Sunday on $1,000 bail, and ordered to appear in court on December 19.
But later, Gurung was
again arrested, this time by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI). He now faces
federal felony charges of attempting to carry a weapon on an aircraft, authorities said.
If convicted, Gurung faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, the FBI said in a
statement released on Monday.
According to the
Tribune, Gurung was taken before a court which ordered him held pending a Thursday
detention hearing. The paper also reported that Assistant US Attorney Edward Kohler said
in court that Gurung was in the country illegally, his student visa having expired, and
that he was a danger to the community and a risk to flee.
In its statement, the
FBI said there was no allegation the incident was connected to any suspected terrorist
activity. The agency also described as "not accurate" published reports Gurung
had once lived in the same North Side apartment building as another man now being held as
a material witness in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Meanwhile, CNN also
reported that a spokesman for the US attorney’s office in Chicago said later there
was "no nefarious or suspicious purpose" related to Gurung’s intended
flight from Chicago to Omaha, Nebraska.
Seven checkpoint
security workers and their supervisor have been suspended pending the outcome of an
internal investigation by their employer, Argenbright Security Inc., the Atlanta-based
firm said today. Argenbright is a private company that runs United’s screening
operations at O’Hare International Airport.
According to the
Tribune, Gurung recently moved back to Chicago with his brother, Sushil, From Minnesota.
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