Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan was detained briefly at the Los Angeles international airport on Friday morning. The actor took to Twitter to announce the “inconvenient” turn of events and said that he spent the time playing Pokemon Go, the popular mobile app game.
“I fully understand & respect security with the way the world is, but to be detained at US immigration every damn time really, really sucks,” Mr. Khan tweeted early on Friday after he was put through extra screening by immigration and customs officials.
The incident drew a swift diplomatic response with U.S. diplomats in charge of South Asia going into damage-control mode on Twitter.
“Sorry for the hassle at the airport, @iamsrk — even American diplomats get pulled for extra screening,” Nisha Biswal, Assistant Secretary of State in charge of South Asia and Central Asia, said in a Twitter post. She was followed by U.S. ambassador to India Richard Verma, who also took to the social media platform and announced, “Sorry for the trouble at LAX @iamsrk. We are working to ensure it doesn’t happen again. Your work inspires millions, including in the U.S.”
Actor’s response
Mr. Khan responded to the remark saying, “No trouble sir, respect the protocol & not expecting to be above it. It’s just a tad inconvenient. Thanks for your concern.”
Mr. Khan, who often shoots films on location in the U.S., was detained in 2012 for two hours at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. He was first detained in Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey in 2009 as his name reportedly showed up on the alert list. The previous incidents, however, did not lead to a correction in the U.S. records as proved by his latest detention at Los Angeles.
