DHAKA: British authorities called yoga guru Ramdev on Saturday to Heathrow Airport here for a second round of questioning, a day after he was detained and quizzed by customs officials for over six hours on arriving in the UK.

According to sources, his questioning by airport officials for a second day is related to him travelling on a visitor’s visa instead of a business one.

Ramdev is in Britain to chair a series of ‘yoga shivirs’ and talks organised by the Patanjali Yog Peeth (UK) Trust.

Some unconfirmed reports claimed he was mistaken for a terror suspect, according to The Times of India.

The UK home office refused to comment on an individual’s questioning over immigration issues.

However, organisers of his events here claimed the questioning was related to Sanskrit books in Ramdev’s possession and authorities were keen to get those translated.

‘It was not clear why the yoga guru was detained for over six hours at Heathrow. He was not carrying anything with him except a small bag of personal effects. It is for the British authorities to explain why he was detained,’ said SK Tejarawala, Ramdev’s spokesman.

Ramdev said, ‘I have never done anything wrong or illegal in my life. I was detained for eight hours at the airport, but was not given any explanation. I asked them repeatedly to give me a reason for detention; but they told that they cannot disclose it to me’.

Ramdev’s detention has been criticided by the BJP which urged the Centre to intervene.

BJP president Rajnath Singh termed the detention of the yoga guru as ‘serious’ issue and asked the Centre to take cognizance of the matter.

BDST: 1910 HRS, SEPT 21, 2013
RoR/RIS