MUSLIM military personnel and recruits have been put on high alert after it emerged their personal details are included on a Ministry of Defence laptop stolen in Birmingham.
The details of more than 600,000 are stored on the laptop which was stolen from a Royal Navy officer’s car in Birmingham last week.
Ministry of Defence (MOD) officials are said to be increasingly concerned with regards to the details of a number of Muslim personnel in light of an alleged plot to kidnap and behead a serving British Muslim solider in Birmingham which was foiled last year, the Times Newspaper reported.
Anybody accessing the information will have at hand the names, home addresses, bank and passport details, as well as National Insurance and National Health Service numbers.
The MOD are said to be contacting those who details were stored on the computer deemed to be at risk should the information fall into the wrong hands.
“There’s a rumpus going on inside the MoD about the threat to Muslim recruits after this theft,” the Times quoted a military insider as saying.
“They are very concerned about the Birmingham connection and of the alleged Birmingham plot last year.
“They are terribly sensitive about this. They are trawling to find out how many Muslim applicants are on the database.”
Defence Secretary Des Browne is expected to make a statement to MPs today over the stolen laptop.
