Mumbai: Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan was detained at Los Angeles airport on Thursday evening for questioning by the US immigration department. It was the third such instance when Shah Rukh was detained at a US airport.
The actor tweeted about his frustration, saying, “I fully understand & respect security with the way the world is, but to be detained at US immigration every…time really really s****.”
SRK, however, found a silver lining as he “caught some really nice Pokemons” while waiting, he tweeted.
He was earlier detained in 2012 at the New York airport for 2-3 hours. The US customs and border protection authorities had expressed “profound” apologies for his detention then.
The superstar had later said in an interview to reporters in February 2016 that he held no grudges against the officials but it was uncomfortable to be waiting at the airport without any reason.
Nisha Biswal, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, US Department of State, tweeted out a reply to Shah Rukh, apologising for the hassle. “Sorry for the hassle at the airport, @iamsrk – even American diplomats get pulled for extra screening!” she tweeted.
US Ambassador to India, Richard Verma also apologised to Shahrukh Khan, saying that he is working to ensure it doesn’t happen again, ANI tweeted.
Shah Rukh Khan said he would be the first person to demand strengthened security if a situation demands in India. “It just was very uncomfortable. To land up somewhere and getting stuck in an airport for 2-3 hours for no reason at all,” he said describing his April 2012 experience.
Khan had joked that since the incident he has started travelling light but sees the issue in a larger context.
“God forbid if there was a problem in India, I would be the first to say that we have to strengthen our security. One has to see it in a larger context, it’s a sign of the times. The world is that kind of place… you cannot hold grudges against people. We have to live with it and and just be prepared for some of this stuff,” he had said.
The actor had also said his namesake who was on the lookout list in US has been found and so he can now travel freely. “Now I’ve been told that that gentleman has been found out. He’s off that list so I’m off the list,” he said.
In 2009 also, Khan was also detained by US immigration officials at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey because his name came up on a computer alert list.
