Sharing name on US watchlist, Patel is stopped at O'Hare

Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel was stopped and questioned by US authorities at the O'Hare International Airport in Chicago on Monday because of a peculiar mix-up � the US has on its watchlist a man with the same name and date of birth as Patel.

While the Ministry of External Affairs usually counters this situation by informing US counterparts of Patel's itinerary well in advance, a sudden change of travel plans of the minister caught the Chicago authorities unaware, resulting in this rather embarrassing situation.
Patel was questioned at O'Hare. He was not carrying a diplomatic passport but a personal one. So when he did tell the authorities there that he was a minister in the Indian government, it did not work. The Indian consulate in Chicago had to intervene and phones had to be worked before he was allowed to proceed.
Patel was on his way to Montreal via Chicago for a conference of the International Civil Aviation Organisation. He later sought to play down the incident. "I am in Montreal, nothing serious has happened...There is a person with a similar name and birth date, that is why they double-checked," Patel told The Indian Express.
This is not the first such situation for the Minister � he landed in a similar spot earlier in New York. This time, the mix-up happened because Patel's original itinerary, involving travel from Europe to Montreal via New York, changed suddenly and he personally booked a ticket to fly via Chicago. With no prior information on the Indian minister, authorities at O'Hare stopped him.