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AMSTERDAM: Dutch police arrested 12 passengers who aroused the crew's suspicion on a US airline flight to India after it returned yesterday to Amsterdam escorted by two F-16 jet fighters, a spokesman said.
Police spokesman Rob Staenacker said he could not disclose the nationalities of the 12 people removed from the aircraft after it was diverted over German airspace.
A passenger said she saw about a dozen people taken off the plane in handcuffs and they appeared to be of South Asian origin.
A US government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said crew members and air marshals observed the passengers attempting to use cell phones and passing them among themselves while the airliner was taking off.
The Defence Ministry said the Northwest Airlines Flight NW0042 was bound for Mumbai but returned to Schiphol Airport.