PRAGUE (AFP) – Indian police have detained and fined a Czech tourist over the possession of a bike computer prohibited by a 1933 law, the Czech Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.
The 44-year-old man was detained at the Manohar International Airport in the state of Goa as he was getting ready to leave for the Qatari capital Doha.
But he ended up in a cell for 12 hours after airport police found a Garmin Edge bike computer in his bag.
“The computer… had an in-built satellite transmitter. Travelling with satellite transmitters or satellite phones is prohibited in India,” Czech Foreign Ministry spokesman Daniel Drake told AFP.
The Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act from 1933 says that “no person shall possess wireless telegraphy apparatus except under and in accordance with a license issued under this Act”.
The possession of a wireless transmitter “shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to three years, or with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees, or with both”, added the law.
Drake said the man had travelled on a bike in India for 11 days without encountering any problems.
The Czech news agency CTK cited the man as saying he had pleaded guilty and paid a fine of IDR1,000 rupees (USD12).
He was then released and allowed to leave the country. The police have however seized the bike computer, said Drake.
