CHENNAI: A Malaysian journalist who came to cover the Indian Diaspora Conference was denied entry at the Anna International Airport here for having a forged visa.

The shocked journalist was stopped but 60 other Malaysians who flew in from Kuala Lumpur were cleared to enter the country.

The 47-year-old journalist had a tough time explaining to the Indian Immigration officers that he had obtained a six-month visa last September and had visited India once after that.

The officers relented and gave him a temporary one-week visa which cost him 2,000 rupees ($60.80).

The journalist, based in Ipoh, said the officers accepted his explanation after he showed his Malaysian press accreditation card.

He said they told him that his visa was among 400 reported missing in Malaysia in September.

The journalist, who claimed to have handed his passport to a travel agent in Ipoh to apply for the visa, said he would be lodging a police report.

Another journalist who was scheduled to fly in yesterday cancelled his flight after his visa was found to be a fake.

He has applied for a new visa and will fly to India today.