Aug. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Indian film star Shah Rukh Khan today said he 
was detained for two hours at a U.S. airport because of his Muslim name, Agence France-Presse reported.
Khan said officials at Newark Airport in New Jersey questioned him and then released him after the Indian embassy in the U.S. intervened, AFP reported. Immigration officers wanted to know why Khan was visiting the U.S. after his name appeared on a computer screen at a counter, the news service said.
“Khan is a Muslim name, and I think the name is common on their checklist,” the actor told the CNN-IBN television channel. “I was waiting for my bags. I thought it was nice of them to take me to another room, but that was apparently a second check. I had my papers in order.”
The actor was going to Chicago to take part in celebrations today to mark India’s Independence Day, he said, according to AFP.
“We are trying to ascertain the facts of the case, to understand what took place,” according to an e-mailed statement from U.S. Ambassador to India Timothy Roemer. “Shah Rukh Khan, the actor and global icon, is a very welcome guest in the United States. Many Americans love his films.”
Source: Boomerg