‘Lensman’ was celebrity freak

Police may still suspect that he has links to terror outfits, but if his Facebook profile is anything to go by, an obsession over photographing himself with celebrities and planes is what landed Ameer Thwaha Karothukudy in trouble. The 34-year-old, who was lodged in the Puzhal jail here for attempting to photograph Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday, is believed to have protested his innocence at every step.

While Chidambaram said he was “surprised and disappointed” that Thwaha had been arrested, his appeal to police to have him released immediately is being processed. “This being the second time he has been caught doing inappropriate actions in a high-security area... we felt it would be wiser to keep him in custody and investigate thoroughly,” said a senior police officer.

Looking through his FB page, it is evident that Thwaha has a thing for planes and celebrities. Having posted pictures of himself with actor John Abraham, filmmaker Priyadarshan, tennis star Mahesh Bhupathi and a celebrity chef at Le Royal Meridien on his Facebook page, the travel agent from Perumbavoor seemed extremely proud of the envious comments that his friends had made.

Though he had posted his pictures inside planes from 2010, till October all his ‘clicking’ was done near the Kochi airport.

Although police say it does not matter, his Facebook page littered with pro-Islamic posts about ‘enforcing Muslim law instead of human law’ and so on, has kept them worried.