Dia Mirza Feels Celebrities are Wrongly Targeted by the Customs

Posted by admin on Jun 29th, 2011 | 0 comments

Actress Dia Mirza who was with Anushka Sharma when she was being targeted by the custom officials for having unclaimed Rs. 35 lakh worth jewelry with her, feels that celebrities are made unfair targets. “Considering the news of their detainment leaks out even before anyone outside knows of their arrival proves beyond a doubt that someone in there (at the airport) loves the attention,” she said.

Dia feels that the customs department is not equipped enough to evaluate jewelry. “This time, when I was headed to Toronto, I probed as to why I wasn’t provided a (Customs) certificate. I was told by the Customs officer that they do not evaluate jewellery as they are not equipped to,” she said. Mirza added, “I was there when Anushka was being questioned and I know for a fact that she was carrying scanned images of every item of jewellery and letter of evaluation from the sponsored jeweler. What she did not have was a Customs certificate, which she tried to avail, but was not given. In fact, the officer at the departure gate told many of us to wear all our jewelery on arrival to avoid questioning.”

Minissha Lamba who went through a similar harrowing experience last month when she was detained by customs for carrying diamonds also agreed that the officials had no proper system to evaluate jewelry. “There is a need to bring in a sense of practicality. One has to look into why an actor would do something illegal when he or she is going abroad to represent his or her country.”

Shilpa Shetty however has a different, yet custom-friendly view on this, “The rich and famous are being targeted to set an example for all. It’s usually them who try and save money and time by not declaring their goods and taking the green channel. I think we should let Customs do their job.”