An Indian government minister today criticised the detention of top Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan at a United States airport allegedly over suspicion of his surname ‘Khan’.

"I don't think that this manner of detaining the name of religion is justified. But in the US, several examples have surfaced where frisking takes place more than required, according to us,” fumed Indian Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni.

“I have always felt - even when I was frisked there - that the way they frisk us we should do the same for them here."

shahrukh khan Khan was detained for nearly two hours at the Newark-New Jersey airport on Friday night when he was in transit to Chicago after US immigration officials spotted his surname.

He was eventually released after Indian diplomats from Indian Embassy in Washington intervened to vouch for him.

"It was in Newark where I was detained for questioning. It was because they said my name was common to some names that popped up on the computer," Khan told Indian news channel CNN-IBN.

"They were asking me silly questions like if I knew someone in the US who could vouch for me, if I could give them numbers of people they could get in touch with."

On Monday, Khan hosted Malacca Chief Minister Mohd Ali Rustam to a special dinner at his residence in posh Banjara Hills in Mumbai, India.

Last November, the Malacca government awarded him the title 'Datuk' for promoting the state through his movies.

- Bernama