There must be quite a few terrified ?terrorists? in the United States of America today. And one of them is certainly Mr Lakshman Singh Meena. Mr Meena had just winded up his research on the tuberculosis vaccine in a research centre at the University of Central Florida, and was packing his bags to come back home to India ? only to be arrested by the university police. He has been in jail for the last two weeks on charges, among others, of felony and theft of intellectual property. The police had found a Wendy?s bag among his things with some vials of DNA, together with scientific manuscripts and notebooks; he had also downloaded from his laboratory computer the results of his work in the US, deleting the records afterwards, and then allegedly denied having done so. One is not allowed to transfer research material from one institution to another ? hence the charge of theft. But there is a grimmer spectre chasing Mr Meena. It is a pity that this Wendy?s bag was found in Orlando and not in Baghdad. The DNA in the vials, apart from showing ?real potential for use in drug development?, has also been classified by the US government as ?potential weapons for bioterrorism?.

So another terrorist attack has been pre-empted. A spokesman for the state?s attorney?s office ? called Mr Randy Means ? has gravely expressed his concern that his office does not ?know enough about what these proteins, DNA samples and genes can do or can?t do?. Mr Meena had come to the US on Indian government funding, and was probably trying to take back evidence of his findings for his funders. He has naturally never been in jail before ? that too an American jail ? and in his bewilderment and terror must have made a few unconsidered and unfortunate denials. And this is all that is needed to make a potential terrorist. And since the War Against Terror has blurred the distinctions between a potential terrorist and a terrorist, he is most probably a terrorist too. Mr Meena had shown towards his American colleagues the usual possessiveness about his own research findings which may not have surprised his Indian co-workers. But his American co-workers found his behaviour sinister and suspicious, and reported him to the university police. His passport has now been confiscated, and immigration authorities at airports asked to stop him if he tries to leave. Needless to say, Mr Meena is now a nervous wreck ? which probably makes it all the more uncertain as to what he can do or can?t do with those deadly vials.