Actress Minissha Lamba was detained at Mumbai airport Wednesday morning when she arrived from France via Dubai after undeclared jewellery worth over `40 lakhs was allegedly found in her baggage.
Officials were interrogating her till late evening. She had “tweeted” earlier that one of her bags was stolen at Nice airport in France.
Ms Lamba was returning from the Cannes film festival on an Emirates flight via Dubai. Customs officials said she was walking out through the “green” channel, and when one of her bags was checked diamond jewellery worth between `40-50 lakhs was found. She could not give any satisfactory explanation on why these weren’t declared.
“She was apprehended and questioned by officials, but the line of questioning is not known,” a senior air intelligence unit official said.
Sources later claimed Ms Lamba told the officials she was ready to pay the fine as long as she was let off. Customs officials are also probing another incident involving Ms Lamba, who claimed one of her bags was stolen in France.