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December 8, 2006

R.I., federal authorities take Indian citizen into custody

Federal terrorism officials and Rhode Island authorities converged to arrest a citizen of India enrolled in a local tractor-trailer training school while attempting to obtain a commercial driver's license and a permit to carry hazardous materials, according to an announcement today.

Mohammed Yusef Mullawala, 28, of Jamaica, N.Y., was taken into custody by the state police on Tuesday after responding to state police headquarters on another matter, police said. He has been turned over to immigration officials and is being held in federal custody pending the results of an immigration hearing in Boston.

Mullawala had entered the country on a student visa that had since expired, according to the state police. Authorities discovered that he had a driver's license in three states: New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island.

The police say that Mullawala lied when applying for a license at the Rhode Island Registry of Motor Vehicles by saying he was a Rhode Island resident.

Authorities did not release the name of the Rhode Island tractor-trailer training school, but said Mullawala "was displaying reportedly suspicious behavior" while enrolled there. In the announcement, they did not explain the suspicious behavior.

State Police could not yet be reached for more details.

Posted by Steve Peoples  at 4:05 PM | Permalink

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