'It Was Only a Power Bank': Indian Women Who Faced 8-Hr Detention at US Airport
'They took advantage of the fact that I was terrified,' says Shilpa, one of the women stopped at Alaska Airport.
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Accused of carrying a bomb, branded as 'mentally unstable', and subjected to a physical search by a male officer.
Shilpa Ganguly (47) and Shruti Chaturvedi (32), who have been friends and neighbours for years, had no idea that their US holiday would end this way.
"It was the same power bank with which I entered Seattle and London, but no problem arose there," Shilpa told The Quint.
'I Felt Like Everyone Was Ganging Up On Me'
It all started when Shilpa, an employee at a startup company, arrived at the Anchorage Airport to board her flight back to Mumbai on 6 April. Shruti, who was scheduled to travel to Vancouver later in the day, had come to drop her friend at the airport.
The ordeal transpired at the security check-in. Shilpa, who had cleared security and was wearing her shoes before proceeding towards the departure gate, was approached by a security official who told her that he would like to scan her bag once more.
"I thought nothing of it at the time," Shilpa says, "and just waited patiently for him to check the bag."
Shilpa Ganguly.
(Photo Courtesy: Shilpa Ganguly)
However, when the check took longer than expected, Shilpa approached him to find out what the matter was. The officer said that there's a power bank in the bag which "looks suspicious" and would have to be scanned. She was told to be patient while they conducted their search.
Approaching them again after a few minutes, she said that they could throw the power bank if they felt it was problematic but requested them to let her go as she was about to miss her flight.
That's when she dialed Shruti, who had not yet left the airport, and told her what was happening. Her friend tried to calm her down over the phone, saying that such things happen in the US and that they would let her go soon.
However, that was not to be. An officer approached her and said that they were suspecting a bomb in the power bank.
"Are you crazy? Are you accusing me of carrying a bomb?" Shilpa told the officer in a state of shock. Then they started asking her odd questions, such as who she was working for and who else was involved in this.
She then heard a senior officer instruct airport security to call the bomb squad.
"Now I was really scared. I had no idea what was happening. It felt like everyone was ganging up on me, saying 'This is the lady who's carrying so-and-so... I can't even say it," she said.
'Kicked My Food, Denied Me a Lawyer'
The airport security then took Shilpa to a room and took away her phone and bag. When she requested them to let her inform her friends and family what was going on, they allegedly refused.
"I started crying... I asked them, 'Are you doing this just because I'm an Indian?'... But they avoided my question and locked me in the room," Shilpa told The Quint.
After about an hour of being alone, Shilpa started banging on the door and asked what was going on.
"Then an officer opened the door and said, 'Do you want us to chain and handcuff you?'"
She then requested the officers to let her use the washroom as she was on her period and was undergoing heavy bleeding due to severe stress. The officers then asked her where her sanitary pads were. When she pointed to them in her bag, the officer took them out, but some food which was in the bag also fell out.
When she came back from the washroom, she found three officials from the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) sitting there.
They then read her the Miranda Rights (legal protections for people in police custody in the US) and asked her to sign a form which they placed before her.
"I asked them whether I could get a lawyer. They avoided the question and said that I had to sign a consent form. Not knowing about their laws, I had no option but to sign it," Shilpa said.
However, unknown to her at the time, Shruti was also being questioned in another room at the airport.
'Physically Searched By Male Officer'
When Shilpa called and informed Shruti of what was going on while at the security checkpoint, the latter approached the airport security to inquire about the situation.
"They said, 'Oh you're her friend? Then we'll have to detain you as well'," Shruti told The Quint, adding, "No reason was given. They just took me to a room which was extremely cold."
Shruti Chaturvedi.
(Photo Courtesy: Shruti Chaturvedi)
Shruti, who was in her nightdress and just had a jacket on, was then allegedly subjected to a physical search by a male officer.
The same process that Shilpa had undergone was then repeated with Shruti: An FBI officer came to the room, read her the Miranda Rights, and asked her to sign a consent form.
They then asked her why she had come to Alaska, and that it was very unusual for Indians to go there, to which she replied by saying that she had come to see the northern lights.
Then, Shruti says, they started asking 'leading' questions.
Evidence Fabricated By Airport Officials?
While Shruti was being grilled, the FBI accused Shilpa of using duct tape on her power bank to hide it inside her handbag.
"They asked me where exactly the power bank was in the bag, and I told them. But they said, according to the security team, it was duct-taped inside the inner lining of the suitcase. I was shocked... I said, 'No, it wasn't'."
She then asked them to check the CCTV footage to see whether she had tampered with the power bank in any way.
"Then they came back after a while and said that the good news for me was that the CCTV footage checked out, and that the power bank was where I had claimed," Shilpa said.
She then asked the FBI officers about the duct tape.
They then gave her a clean chit but refused to give back her handbag – claiming that they had to investigate it thoroughly. She was offered a plastic bag and asked to put her belongings into that.
Let out of the airport after around eight hours, Shilpa started crying after she saw Shruti. Then they changed their flight tickets as both of them had missed their flights. However, their ordeal wasn't over yet.
Shortly before Shilpa's second flight was to depart, security officials approached her and said that they needed to search her phone.
After checking the phone, they gave it back to her and said 'Sorry'.
"'Sorry?' What do you mean by 'sorry'?" she told them.
Shilpa, who is now back in Goa, is contemplating whether to press charges against the officers concerned.
"I don't know whether I can press charges. I don't know my rights here... I would really want to file a complaint if possible."
She said that she is waiting for Shruti to come back from Vancouver so that they can discuss whether to take legal steps in the matter.
(The Quint has reached out to the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport to understand their version of events of that day. This article will be updated as and when they respond.)