Saudi Aramco executive spent week in Indian jail for carrying satellite phone

Dehradun, New Delhi: A senior executive of oil giant Saudi Aramco spent nearly a week in jail in July for carrying a satellite phone while holidaying in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district lying along the Line of Actual Control with China.

Fergus MacLeod, head of investor relations at Saudi Aramco, was arrested on July 12 in the Valley of Flowers National Park and was held in prison in the town of Chamoli until July 18, according to UK's Financial Times.

The 62-year-old reportedly had no idea carrying a satellite phone in India requires permission from authorities.

Officials came looking for the British executive after picking up the coordinates of the phone, which MacLeod said he had not used but turned on and off at the hotel while on holiday with friends.

The Indian Express quoted Chamoli SP Shweta Choubey as saying that possession and use of satellite phones by foreign nationals without prior approval is illegal in India, and added there was 'nothing wrong' in detaining the executive.

Narendra Singh Rawat, Station Officer of Govind Ghat police station in Chamoli, said a policeman, who was sent to probe the information on the use of satellite phone, confirmed that a foreign national travelling to the Valley of Flowers was carrying the phone and he was detained.

Rawat added that the executive was arrested under sections of the Indian Telegraph Act and the Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act and he stayed in the jail until July 18, before being released as he paid a fine of Rs 1,000.