A day after being stopped from boarding a London flight by Indian immigration officials, Greenpeace campaigner Priya Pillai today shot off a letter to the Home Ministry seeking an explanation for forbidding her from leaving the country.



"It is bizarre that the government chooses to inform the media about an alleged lookout circular against me which I have no knowledge of.



"I have been dedicatedly working for the rights of the most marginalised communities in the country and protecting the environment. Does this lead to issuing of a circular that is meant for offenders?" she said in a statement issued by Greenpeace India.



Pillai, a senior campaigner for Greenpeace India, was yesterday stopped from boarding a flight to London by immigration officials prompting the environment NGO to accuse the government of intimidation, but officials said she was barred from leaving the country due to a look-out circular against her.



Today's letter comes after Greenpeace yesterday also wrote to Home and External Affairs Ministry as well as Airport Authority of India (AAI) following the incident. Greenpeace India said that they are "still to hear from any of the authorities".



"Pillai has demanded explanation from the Ministry as to the reason for forbidding her from leaving India because of a lookout circular against her as reported by the media," the Greenpeace India statement said.



A "lookout circular" is generally issued against criminals barred from leaving the country because they might abscond but Pillai has no criminal convictions and was travelling to London to make a speech to British MPs, the statement said.



Pillai was scheduled to address British Parliamentarians on January 14 on the rights of forest communities being infringed for coal mining in India by a London-based energy company.



The statement said that though Pillai has been a part of peaceful protests, she has no criminal convictions against her and her "bail bond does not have a single condition that bars her from travelling outside India."



"Then why am I being singled out? I demand the authorities in the MHA to furnish the appropriate reasons and refrain from conducting a media trial. As a proud citizen of India, it is my democratic right to know why there is a restriction on my freedom of speech and movement," she said in the statement.



Greenpeace India had yesterday claimed that Pillai was informed by the airport authorities that she is now "banned" from leaving India, even though she has no criminal conviction. Her passport has been stamped with the word "offload".



When contacted, the Ministry of Home Affairs spokesperson had yesterday said, "The Ministry has no comment to offer."



However, official sources had said that there is a look-out circular against Pillai.



Any person with a look-out circular against him or her is not allowed to enter or leave the country, the sources said.



Pillai has claimed that she has a business visa to travel to the UK which that is valid for the next six months.