Videotaping leads to man’s arrest

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Federal authorities on Tuesday were holding a Pakistani foreign national in Charlotte who is suspected of videotaping landmark buildings, dams and transit systems throughout the Southeast. A Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer stopped and questioned Kamran Akhtar, also known as Kamran Shaikh, of Elmhurst, N.Y., on July 20 while he was videotaping near the intersection of South Tryon and Stonewall streets.

Authorities have charged him with immigration violations. Videotapes found in his possession include footage of buildings in Atlanta, Austin, Houston, Dallas and New Orleans, as well as transit systems in those cities and a dam in Texas, according to a federal criminal complaint filed last week.

The federal Department of Homeland Security has not issued any alerts in relation to the arrest.

Shaikh, as he is referred to in the complaint, left Pakistan in 1991 and was found in violation of U.S. immigration laws and ordered to leave the country by a New York City immigration court in 1998, according to an affidavit.

Akhtar had been in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.

Tuesday morning, U.S. District Judge Carl Horn ordered Akhtar held in federal custody.

At noon, men wearing U.S. Marshal jackets escorted Akhtar from a back door of the federal courthouse in uptown Charlotte. Akhtar, wearing an orange jumpsuit, shuffled in flip-flops with his ankles chained together and wrists handcuffed in the front. Marshals drove Akhtar and other prisoners off in a dark blue Ford van. He is being held in the Mecklenburg County jail.

Shaikh’s arrest led federal authorities to issue a bulletin late last week to police officers in the cities where he had videotaped landmarks. It urges police to remain vigilant and instructs commanders to tell patrol officers to be on the lookout for suspicious activity.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officer Anthony Maglione spotted Shaikh videotaping downtown Charlotte on July 20 and asked what he was doing, according to the affidavit.

Police Chief Darrel Stephens said in a news conference Ahhtar told Maglione at the time of his arrest that he was making videotapes for family members.

Shaikh is not charged with any crimes in relation to the videotapes.