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The entertainment queen has joined the list of lovely ladies who have been detained at Customs over the past few months

Television and movie producer Ekta Kapoor was coming back from a trip to Bangkok when she had to deal with an awkward moment – she was nabbed as she went through the green channel at customs at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport for “duty evasion”. According to the officials, she was carrying “personal goods for which she did not pay Customs Duty” and had to pay a fine of Rs 40,000. Ekta was being questioned about her shopping, we hear from our birdie, who was lurking behind a pillar in the huge hall – but we learned nothing about the value of what she was bringing back. The lady joins a growing list of celebs who have been nabbed for luggage that should have been declared and was now, for whatever reason, from Minissha Lamba to Bipasha Basu and, more recently, Anushka Sharma and Shahrukh Khan. Whether it is becoming a fashion statement or a kind of badge of honour, or whether these instances have always occurred and never been spoken of, we are not sure, but it cannot be anything but embarrassing to be stopped and questioned like this. But then there is a flip side – any publicity is good publicity and if you have something you need talked about, this is a good way to grab a little limelight, no? But for Ekta, the story has ended after paying the fine. But we wait to find out who the next person to be caught trying to sneak past Customs will be!