London: Two British plane-spotters, who
returned home after their arrest for recording conversations
between pilots and Air Traffic Control in India, on Thursday said
they are not going to stop their hobby.
46-year-old Stephen Hampton and 56-year-old Steven
Ayres, were arrested on suspicion of spying after they asked
for a hotel room overlooking a runway at Indira Gandhi
International Airport last month.
They were arrested after police found an air traffic
control scanner, laptop, binoculars and cameras.
Ayres said that the Indian authorities had
difficulty in understanding their hobby. Both men vowed to
continue their hobby.
"I've been doing it for 20 years without a problem and
I am not going to stop," Hampton said.
The two friends even found time for some plane
spotting in Bahrain on the way home, Bristol News reported.
The men, both railway workers, were charged with
breaching section 20 of the Indian Telegraph Act.
They admitted the charge and were fined Rs 25,000
($362) each when they appeared in court.
Hampton and Ayres spent two days under armed guard at
their hotel before being moved to a detention centre for
foreigners.
Hampton said, "It's a great relief to be home. We are
just glad to be back in the UK. We didn't believe we would be
back in the UK until we touched down at Heathrow."
They left for London yesterday after a court ordered
them to be freed.
Their arrest on February 15 came at a time when India
was on high alert two days after a bomb blast at German bakery
in Pune.
A cleaner at the hotel alerted security staff after
seeing the equipment they had taken with them.
Hampton deplored the conditions in the Indian
detention centre saying "it was like moving from a five-star
hotel into a minus-five-star hotel".
"There was only cold running water, basic washing
facilities, no glass in the windows and we were on camp beds
with blankets that hadn't been washed for ages. We stayed
together and got through it. The other inmates were very
helpful."
PTI
First Published: Thursday, March 11, 2010, 23:55