Grounded hi-fliers

On her way back from the glamorous French Riviera, Minissha Lamba wound up at the customs interrogation room at Mumbai airport on Wednesday morning.
She was detained for over 12 hours for carrying undeclared diamond jewellery that she flashed on the Cannes Red Carpet.
Shah Rukh Khan
Questioned for two hours at Newark Airport, USA, in August 2009, after his name popped up in a checklist prepared after 9/11 attacks.Termed it “uncalled for, humiliating”
Preity Zinta
Fought with a CISF official when he demanded to see her I-card at Chandigarh airport in April. She
eventually relented
Neil Nitin
Questioned in USA in June 2009 as apparently, authorities thought he had a fake passport as they couldn’t believe he was Indian, being so fair!
Rahat Fateh Ali Khan
Was detained for allegedly carrying USD 1.24 lakh (about `60 lakh) of undeclared foreign currency, at Delhi airport on February 13
Shilpa Shetty
Detained at Mumbai in 2007, on way to UK, due to a ‘look out’ notice issued previously, in an obscenity case slapped on her for kissing Richard Gere. After 2 hours, proved that the SC had dismissed the notice
Sheetal Mafatlal
Mumbai socialite Sheetal Mafatlal was detained by customs in June 2009 for allegedly under-declaring diamond jewellery worth over `1 crore
Tthe starlet apparently forgot to carry the all-important letter from the jeweller who had loaned the `40 lakh bling to her. What complicated her case further was that she seemingly forgot to declare the jewellery on her way to France as well.
On questioning, Minissha said that she had carried the valuables even while leaving the country but forgot to declare them. “She was supposed to obtain an export certificate from the Customs department while she was leaving the country. She was detained for not declaring the valuables,” said a Customs officer. Minissha told them that the valuables were given to her by Anmol Jewellers. She appeared calm and co-operated during the questioning, and said it was an inadvertent mistake, added the officer.
However, Customs authorities didn’t find any document on her that could support her claims. A spokesperson from Anmol Jewellers said, “Minissha had carried some of our jewellery, worth around `40 lakh, for Cannes, and we had done the necessary paperwork. She forgot to carry the document. We gave jewellery worth the same amount to Deepika Padukone last year but she faced no such trouble.” Meanwhile, the Customs officers were seriously considering an arrest. Thankfully for Minissha, the relevant documents from Anmol arrived just in time to save her from any further embarrassment.
A source close to the actress told us, “The airport authorities took her inside for investigation and took away her cellphone, but she wants to make it clear that the whole process was not harrowing at all. There was really no harassment. They offered her food and drinks while she was giving answers. They did not mistreat her. Minissha kept her cool throughout. She got permission to leave from there at around 2am. Her mother, brother and two of her friends were present at the airport.” Her dad, says another source, was not in Mumbai at that time.
“This is like a minor, innocent mistake, an oversight. She just didn’t do the paperwork required. Luckily, this is not hampering her work, as she had to resume shooting only around May 22,” added the source. Yesterday, Minissha was summoned to the Mumbai customs commissioner’s office at around 2pm.
(Inputs from Diksha Kamra)