Indian IBM official detained in Malaysia

Malaysian immigration authorities detained an official of the Bangalore-based IBM India at the Kuala Lumpur airport on Friday night.

According to sources, Narendra Babu, who works in the planning department of IBM's Indian subsidiary, was on an official visit to Malaysia.

"He was prevented from boarding a flight back to Madras (Chennai) after he collected the boarding pass at the Kuala Lumpur airport, and was taken into custody by the Malaysian police," sources told rediff.com in Bangalore.

"At this point of time, we would not like to comment on this development. We will get back to the media as and when we get the details," a company official said in Bangalore.

Reports from Kuala Lumpur said efforts were being made by the IBM's Malaysian office to secure Babu's release by seeking the assistance of the Indian embassy there.

Recently, Malaysian authorities had arrested about 30 Indian software engineers in Kuala Lumpur on charges of violating visa regulations. Their passports were also impounded.

They were released after the Indian government lodged a strong protest with the Malaysian authorities.