Customs officials on Wednesday detained and interrogated Bollywood actress Minissha Lamba at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport here after she walked through the green channel without declaring the diamond-studded jewellery she was carrying.
The jewellery is believed to be worth around Rs. 50 lakh, but customs officials refused to declare its value and said that it had been sent for evaluation. The actress, who returned home by an Emirates flight EK 504 from Nice after attending the Cannes festival, was intercepted at the airport between 8.30 a.m. and 9 a.m. The officials checked her baggage and found the jewellery. She was detained after that and interrogated till night.
According to sources, Ms. Lamba said that she was not aware of the rules and that she had carried the jewellery with her from India when she had gone to Cannes. Apparently, the actress earlier lost her baggage at Nice airport. “Disaster has struck. A baggage of mine has been stolen at Nice Airport. I can't believe something like this has happened,” she posted on the micro-blogging site Twitter.