Mumbai: A man from Tamil Nadu has claimed that he was humiliated and denied visa at an immigration counter of Mumbai’s international airport for not knowing Hindi, prompting the immigration department to initiate an investigation against one of their officers.

In a series of tweets on Tuesday, Abraham Samuel alleged that an immigration officer at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport denied him immigration for “knowing only Tamil and English and not Hindi”.

“Was just denied immigration by an immigration officer in counter 33 at Mumbai CST AIRPORT, for knowing only Tamil and English and NOT hindi! What a disaster! Reported the officer, hope they take action. @SushmaSwaraj @mkstalin @narendramodi (sic),” Samuel said in one of his tweets tagging the foreign minister and the external affairs ministry.

Was just denied immigration by an immigration officer in counter 33 at Mumbai CST AIRPORT, for knowing only Tamil and English and NOT hindi! What a disaster! Reported the officer, hope they take action. @SushmaSwaraj @mkstalin @narendramodi — Abraham Samuel (@abrahamsamuel) January 8, 2019

Samuel said the immigration officer at counter 33 ‘profiled’ him after seeing his Indian passport and “assumed that I should know Hindi and even after politely informing him that I do not know Hindi”.

“No one in India should be denied immigration for not knowing Hindi! Such a disgraceful and arrogant behavior by this immigration officer in counter 33 at Mumbai CST! Hope this is the last instance of this in India (sic)!” he tweeted.

No one in India should be denied immigration for not knowing hindi! Such a disgraceful and arrogant behavior by this immigration officer in counter 33 at Mumbai CST! Hope this is the last instance of this in India! @mkstalin @thenewsminute @SunTV @RahulGandhi — Abraham Samuel (@abrahamsamuel) January 8, 2019

“The only reason i left was because my flight was scheduled to be boarded at 1:00 AM. Otherwise i would have stayed to lodge a formal complaint against this nincampoop! How do idiots like him make way into the indian government? He is a disgrace! @SushmaSwaraj @MEAIndia (sic),” Samuel said.

The only reason i left was because my flight was scheduled to be boarded at 1:00 AM. Otherwise i would have stayed to lodge a formal complaint against this nincampoop! How do idiots like him make way into the indian government? He is a disgrace! @SushmaSwaraj @MEAIndia — Abraham Samuel (@abrahamsamuel) January 8, 2019

A senior immigration official said the officer in question has been taken off duty temporarily. “We regret that such an incident took place at Mumbai airport. The said officer who has been taken off the counter, pending investigation, will be given soft skill training and his counselling will be done,” a senior immigration officer was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.

“The nature of the allegations are very serious and hence we are investigating it in detail,” the officer added.