Shilpa Shetty 'harassed' at CSI Airport

Mumbai, Sep 26 (UNI) Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty felt 'harassed and humiliated' at the Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport here today when an inspector in the Immigration Department spoke rudely to her and treated her badly.

The actress was travelling to Germany for her West End musical 'Miss Bollywood', premiering in Berlin this weekend, her spokesman Dale Bhagwagar said.

The actress was accompanied by her dance troupe that included fifty British and Russian dancers and technicians. She had a 0215 hrs departure, by British Airways flight BA138F, to Berlin via London, when she faced this harrowing experience at the airport, he said.

''She said Mr P Deshmukh had treated her badly, spoken to her in an absolute rude and uncalled manner, and gruffly told her, she could not travel out of the country as there was no clearance order from the court,'' informed Bhagwagar.

''Is she expected to carry a copy of the Supreme Court order all her life? Will the authorities take decades to note the court development?'' Bhagwagar asked. The actress was facing court cases over the action of International actor Richard Gere planting pecks on her cheek at an event in New Delhi. Later, the apex court cleared her foreign trips.

Just before catching her flight. Shilpa said, ''I can understand something like this if I'd committed a criminal offence. But what was my offence, when I'm just an actor, going to perform a musical on foreign land, representing my country. I don't need to be treated like this in my own country! It's terrible! It's really shocking''.

When asked if Shilpa was planning any action on the immigration authorities for the offensive behaviour, Mr Bhagwagar said, ''Yes, she was keen to consult her lawyers in the matter.'' UNI