SHILPA SHETTY - SHETTY BLASTS INDIAN IMMIGRATION OFFICIALS

Bollywood actress SHILPA SHETTY has hit out at Indian immigration authorities after she was "hassled" by officials on Tuesday (25Sep07) and temporarily banned from leaving the country. The 34-year-old was travelling to Germany when she was stopped by immigration at Mumbai airport in relation to the police investigation into her public display of affection with Hollywood actor Richard Gere earlier this year (07). Shetty and the Pretty Woman hunk found themselves at the centre of a national scandal when Gere swept her into his arms and kissed her several times at a charity event in New Delhi last April (07). The incident resulted in a court order against Shetty demanding she appear before a judge in Rajasthan, India, to face charges of indecent behaviour in the Hindu country. But while Shetty was cleared of the charges and given permission to travel abroad from her native India, not all airport authorities have taken note of the dismissal, and she is still facing the consequences of Gere's harmless actions. Shetty says, "I know that they (immigration personnel) were doing their duty, but there is certain decorum to be maintained, even when one is doing his duty. "I can understand something like this if I'd committed a criminal offence. But what was my offence...? I don't need to be treated like this in my own country! It's terrible! It's really shocking." Her spokesman, Dale Bhagwagar, adds: "This is not a sole incident. From the last few months, every time Shilpa travels out of the country, the immigration authorities hassle her. So much so that one could think, they get some kind of sadistic pleasure in doing so."