Indian academician Badar Khan Suri, a researcher at Georgetown University in the United States, was freed from a Texas immigration detention centre on Wednesday, hours after a federal judge ordered his release, BBC reported.

Suri was arrested on March 17 by immigration authorities for allegedly “spreading propaganda” of Palestinian militant group Hamas. He was informed that his visa had been revoked, according to a lawsuit filed by the researcher’s lawyer challenging the detention.

On Wednesday, US District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles found that Suri’s detention infringed upon his rights to free speech and due process, BBC reported.

The Department of Homeland Security has alleged that Suri was “actively spreading Hamas propaganda and promoting antisemitism” on social media. “Suri has close connections to a known or suspected terrorist, who is a senior advisor to Hamas,” a Fox News reporter quoted the department as saying in a statement.

Hamas is designated as a terrorist organisation in the US.

However, the department did not provide details of the activities Suri was allegedly involved in.

Hassan Ahmad, the lawyer representing Suri, had argued that the Indian researcher was being punished because his wife, a US citizen, is of Palestinian origin and because the Trump administration suspects that the couple opposes American foreign policy towards Israel, Politico reported.

Suri’s wife, Mapheze Saleh, has been alleged to have “ties with Hamas”, the petition was quoted as saying.

However, the court on Wednesday held that no evidence had been submitted to the court about statements he was said to have made in support of Hamas, CBS News reported.

As part of the terms for Suri’s release, the court has instructed him to live in Virginia and appear for hearings in court, Washington Post reported.

Suri is a postdoctoral fellow at the Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, which is part of Georgetown University’s foreign service school. He completed his PhD in peace and conflict studies at New Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia University in 2020.

Suri’s petition had also said that he was facing deportation proceedings under a provision of the US immigration law that the Trump administration has used in the Mahmoud Khalil case, Politico reported.

The rarely used provision gives the US secretary of state the power to deport non-citizens if the administration determines that their presence in the US poses a threat to the country’s foreign policy. Khalil, a former Columbia University student of Palestinian origin, was arrested on March 8. He had participated in pro-Palestine protests on campus last year. His green card was revoked. A federal judge, however, stayed Khalil’s deportation.

A green card, officially known as a Permanent Resident Card, allows an individual to stay and work permanently in the US.

Suri’s arrest came amid increased scrutiny of foreign students by the Trump administration following pro-Palestine protests on college campuses in the US. Protest encampments against Israel’s war on Gaza have been erected in several other universities in the US since late 2023.

Days after Suri’s arrest the Ministry of External Affairs said Indian citizens living abroad must comply with local laws.