By SUNIL Sonkar

August 30 — Mumbai-based documentary film maker Vijay Kumar claimed in his first interview after being incarcerated in a US jail about 10 days ago that he is a victim of racial profiling and US officials harassed him.

Kumar was on a telephonic interview from a detention centre. He was shifted here from Houston county jail.

Being a strict vegetarian, Kumar claimed of skipping food for two days in jail as he was deliberately served non-vegetarian food. His visa was revoked declaring him as an illegal visitor.

On his way to Vancouver, Canada, Kumar was detained at Houston international airport after “behavioural detection officers” felt something was amiss with him. He was questioned and then alarmed after some publications dealing with Jihad and Islam was revealed from his baggage.

Kumar faced pains to clarify that he posed no terror threat to the United States.

He said in the interview, “While at Houston airport there was a last-minute change in my flight’s departure terminal due to which I had to run a long way inside the airport. That’s why I was sweating and furiously searching for my travel documents. The Transportation Security Administration officials then took me aside for interrogation. Later, the FBI and sniffing dogs descended at the airport. I was handcuffed there itself and kept like that for 50 minutes in a car.”