Dr. Tajummal H. Bhatti of Marion, Virginia… immigrated to the US from Pakistan in the early 1960′s; served 20 years in the Virginia Air National Guard (with a TOP SECRET security clearance) and is retired from the Veteran’s Adminsitration where he was a staff psychiatrist. He was arrested a few weeks after 9-11 and held completely in secret. Until the case became public, he was never informed of any charges against him and was not allowed to contact anyone — not even an attorney. When he did not answer his telephone for several days, his son drove in from out of state and tracked down his father. The son then went to a local newspaper where a reporter tapped into a source in the federal court and learned where Bhatti was. When the newspaper broke the story, the federal prosecutor was finally forced to bring charges — which the federal judge tossed out. It seems that one of his neighbors — who had a long-standing dispute with Dr. Bhatti — convinced the apartment manager to search Bhatti’s apartment — where they found his pilot’s license and his computer. Based on this, the neighbor and the apartment reported Bhatti to the FBI for “suspicious activity.” [Chicago Report, a blog]

Also, here’s a compendium of local news stories on the case.

-s