An Indian entrepreneur shared that she was detained for eight hours at a US airport by the police and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

For Shruti Chaturvedi, it was supposed to be the perfect end to an Arctic dream but it spiralled into a chilling nightmare.

At 30,000 feet, it doesn’t take much for a lithium battery to turn into a five-alarm fire.

That nightmare scenario is why aviation authorities worldwide don’t allow power banks in check-in baggage and why many now ask that passengers keep them in sight at all times.

At Anchorage Airport in Alaska, that precautionary logic allegedly mutated into something else entirely. Something humiliating.

Shruti Chaturvedi, an Indian entrepreneur and founder of the PR firm Chaipani, says she endured an eight-hour detention, physical frisking by a male officer under surveillance cameras, and complete denial of basic rights. Only because airport officials thought her power bank was “suspicious.”

In a now-viral post on X, Chaturvedi wrote:

“Imagine being detained by Police and FBI for 8 hours, being questioned the most ridiculous things, physically checked by a male officer on camera, stripped off warm wear, mobile phone, wallet, kept in chilled room, not allowed to use a restroom, or make a single phone call, made to miss your flight – all because the airport security found your powerbank in handbag ‘suspicious.’”

She didn't have to imagine. “I don’t have to imagine, already past the worst 7 hours,” she posted, tagging India’s Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar and the Ministry of External Affairs. “And we all know why", she added.

Chaturvedi claims she was denied access to a restroom during the entire episode, wasn’t allowed to contact anyone in India, and was “stripped of warm wear” while being held in a cold room.

Finally, she missed her flight.

“They let me and my friend go after 8 hours of nonsense and not finding anything,” she wrote in a follow-up post. “They still kept the whole luggage bag and gave a frivolous duffle to keep the luggage.”

The powerbank that triggered the ordeal was in her handbag — just like thousands of travellers carry daily.

Data from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) shows that there’s been an average of three overheating lithium battery incidents on planes every two weeks in 2024, a sharp rise from one per week in 2018.

In January, an Air Busan aircraft preparing for departure in South Korea caught fire. The country’s transport ministry has hinted at a powerbank as the potential cause.

The ripple effect was swift. By March 1, South Korea rolled out strict new policies, and some airlines—including Air Busan—have since banned power banks from overhead bins entirely, requiring that they remain with passengers at all times for quick access if something goes wrong.

So, the safety threat is real. But does safety protocol justify the scale and nature of Shruti Chaturvedi’s experience?

“I am alright and posted this only after I was out of the USA,” she clarified later. Her choice to wait until she had left American soil before speaking publicly raises another layer of discomfort: the fear that voicing dissent while on US territory might invite further trouble.

Her ordeal began after a picturesque Alaskan vacation. She had earlier posted images of the Northern Lights with childlike awe:

“Flew to Alaska, drove through the Dalton Highway, crossed the Arctic Circle, and watched the Northern Lights from room balcony on the night I was not prepared to see one.”

The Indian consulate has yet to issue an official response.

Many travellers into the US are reporting extra checks even after clearing immigration, especially by Customs officials asking detailed questions about what's in their luggage.