Friday May 08 2009, Trivandrum

Mammootty detained at US airport

Mollywood superstar Mammootty was denied entry to America and was detained for a couple of hours when he reached JFK airport at New York last week.

Finally, the Indian Consulate in New York intervened and got him released from the custody of US homeland security who had interrogated him also. It was his name that caused the trouble, it is learnt. His name, as given in his passport is, Mohammad Kutty Ismail Paniparambil. Mohammad Ismail is a name that figures in the US homeland security watchlist, it is reported.

Mammootty was in the US to campaign for his statemate Stanley J. Kalathara, an attorney and a Democratic candidate for the New York City Council from District 25.