By Raisa Nasreen

Copyright timesnownews

A few days ago Malayalam actor Navya Nair found herself in a controversy when the she was fined a sum of AUD 1,980 ( ₹1.14 lakh) at Melbourne Airport after she was found carrying a jasmine flowers without declaring it to the Australian customs. The actor has now opened up about the incident. Navya Nair Talks About Being Fined Rs 1.14 lakh At Australian Airport The actress has now written to the Australian agricultural department, requesting for the fine to be waived off as she didn’t carry the flowers intentionally. In a conversation with HTCity from Singapore, the actor says, “I was kind of shocked. It’s a significant penalty. The thing is that I was not carrying flowers in my bag. The flowers were on my hair, so it was nothing hidden but I didn’t declare it because I missed it out. They mentioned parts of plants and flowers are included that. The sniffer dogs sniffed it because I had kept the flowers in my bag in the beginning of my travel.” The actor has reached out to the Australian agricultural department, requesting them to waive of the penalty. “I have 28 days time for payment. They also told me that I can send a mail telling all these details to the agriculture department. So, I have just send them a mail that night itself. I am just waiting for a reply. I have asked them to waive off the amount and if they don’t waive off then I had read it in many articles that they charge 300 dollars and they charged AUD 1980 and it is written 6 units, so I don’t know what it is. As a foreigner I had no idea.” The actress also shared that it took her a long time to complete the visa process and exit the airport to enter Melbourne, where she had gone to attend Onam celebrations hosted by Malayali Association of Victoria. She was last seen in Janaki Jaane written and directed by Aneesh Upasana. The film featured Saiju Kurup, Sharaf U Dheen, Anarkali Marikar, Johny Antony, Kottayam Nazeer, George Kora.