Airport cuffs on singer caught with cash

New Delhi: Pakistani singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan was tonight arrested at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here for allegedly carrying undeclared foreign currency several times the permissible limit.
“He has been placed under arrest. He was carrying $1.24 lakh in foreign currency and two demand drafts of $10,000 and $8,646. He did not declare it to the immigration authorities,” said an official of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) who along with customs authorities had earlier detained the singer.
A foreign national can carry up to $5,000 in cash and $5,000 in other instruments —around Rs 4.55 lakh at current exchange rates. The sum Rahat was allegedly carrying adds up to over Rs 60 lakh — over 13 times the limit allowed.
A customs official said the arrest followed Rahat’s failure to explain the source of the cash. “He was giving unsatisfactory replies on where he got the currency. He was arrested as he failed to provide all the details,” the official said. Rahat was detained around 4.15pm as he was about to board an Emirates flight to Dubai on way to Karachi.
The 37-year-old is the nephew of the late Pakistani singing legend Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and the voice behind several Bollywood chartbusters. These include Tere Mast Mast Do Nain from last year’s top-grosser Dabangg and Ajj Din Chadeya from Love Aaj Kal, starring Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone, in 2009.
13/02/11 The Telegraph

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Categories: Airports Feb 2011, Foreign Feb 2011