.: Riteish Deshmukh is not the only one to have had his clothes roughed up in the US. Said Sudhakar Reddy, president, Air Passengers Association of India (APAI), "We receive over 300 complaints a month, from Indians travelling abroad, for broken baggage locks and five to 10 complaints of luggage being   messed up."

Minisha Modi, a banker, said her luggage had once been opened, with locks missing and clothes ripped, in Miami and Detroit. She said, "I have now stopped locking them to save them from the damage."

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in the US is the agency that screens every passenger's baggage before it is placed on an airplane. "While our technology allows the TSA to electronically screen bags, there are times when a physical inspection becomes necessary," said an Air India official.  A Continental Airlines cabin crewmember said, "Passengers can use a TSA-approved lock to avoid breaking it." Security officers at airports can open the TSA-approved locks using universal master keys and the locks then need not be broken.

"The locks are available at travel accessory stores in the US and Mumbai," said Afzal Siddiqui, a showroom executive in the Samsonite Showroom, Parel.