Mumbai: Not for the first time, Shah Rukh Khan was stopped at an airport.
As he was returning from Dubai in his private jet, the Bollywood superstar was stopped by Customs officials at Mumbai airport on Friday night, NDTV reported.
According to Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) sources, Shah Rukh’s jet had landed at Terminal 3. As the actor and his team were leaving the terminal, covers of expensive watches worth Rs 18 lakh were found in their baggage.
Shah Rukh and his manager were allowed to leave the airport after paying Custom duty of Rs 6.83 lakh and completing formalities. Members of his entourage, including his bodyguard, were detained the entire night for questioning before being allowed to leave.
The Bollywood badshah attended the Sharjah International Book Fair 2022 on Friday, where he was honoured with the Global Icon of Cinema and Cultural Narrative Award for his contributions to international cinema and culture.
Previous instances of SRK being stopped/detained at airports:
* In July 2011, former NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede stopped Shah Rukh at the Mumbai airport when he was returning with his family from a trip to the Netherlands and UK. The actor was questioned for allegedly not declaring foreign goods attracting duty. Wankhede, who was then assistant commissioner of Customs, interrogated SRK for hours and scanned all his baggages. Shah Rukh had to pay customs duty before being allowed to leave.
* In August 2016, Shah Rukh was detained at Los Angeles International Airport, reportedly for a match with one of the many on US terror watchlists. SRK was allowed to go after the Indian embassy took up the matter with the US State department and department of Homeland Security. “I fully understand & respect security with the way the world is, but to be detained at US immigration every damn time really really sucks,” Shah Rukh had tweeted. It was the third time in seven years that he had faced such an ordeal in the US,
* In 2009, US immigration authorities detained SRK at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey for two hours as his name cropped up on a terror alert list. He was travelling to the US to publicise his film ‘My Name Is Khan’, which dealt with racial profiling of Muslims.
* In 2012, Shah Rukh was detained at Westchester County airport in New York when he was travelling with Nita Ambani in a private jet. He had been invited by Yale University to deliver a lecture. Having reached the venue three hours late, SRK took a dig at the US system. “Whenever I start feeling too arrogant about myself, I always take a trip to America. The immigration guys kicked the star out of stardom,” he said during his address.
