London, Feb 11 (Inditop.com) Britain’s airport authorities have dismissed as “simply not true” claims by Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan that he autographed printouts of his body-scan for female security staff at Heathrow airport.
BAA, which owns and operates British airports, said SRK’s claims made last week on the popular Friday Night with Jonathan Ross’ television show were “completely factually incorrect”.
The subject of Khan’s body scan came up while he was telling Jonathan Ross how his new film, ‘My Name is Khan’, is all about a Muslim named Khan who wants to inform the US president that he is not a terrorist.
“I’m always stopped by the security, because of the name. And I think it’s okay: the western world is a little bit worried, paranoid and touchy, I guess – and feely when they’re frisking you,” Khan told his celebrity chat show host.
“I was in London recently going through the airport and these new machines have come up, the body scans. You’ve got to see them. It makes you embarrassed – if you’re not well endowed.
“You walk into the machine and everything – the whole outline of your body – comes out.”
Khan said he did not know that the body-scans – installed in the wake of last year’s abortive Christmas Day attempt to bomb a transatlantic flight over Detroit – showed up every little detail of the body.
“I was a little scared. Something happens [inside the scans], and I came out.
“Then I saw these girls – they had these printouts. I looked at them. I thought they were some forms you had to fill. I said �give them to me’ – and you could see everything inside.
“So I autographed them for them.”
But a BAA spokeswoman said body-scanning machines at Heathrow could not store or print images in any form.
She said there would be no investigation into SRK’s claims because they “simply could not be true”.
Recent moves to install full-body scanners in airports have caused a furore in the West with civil rights campaigners saying they are worried about invasion of privacy. They say there are no guarantees that images of naked bodies will not be stored or distributed.
rounak