Thiruvananthapuram,  Veteran anthropologist and sociologist Filippo Osella was not allowed entry to India after he landed at the Thiruvanthapuram airport on Thursday morning and sent back to the UK.

He arrived through Dubai and was sent back to Dubai from where he will return to the UK.

Upon arrival at the airport here, he was received by an official who took him to the immigration desk and after a brief while, he was told that he was being deported.

Airport officials were tight-lipped on the reason for the deportation, only saying that they were doing their duty.

A Professor of Anthropology and South Asian Studies at the University of Sussex, the 65-year-old Osella is an expert on Kerala and arrived here to take part in a seminar scheduled for Friday.

Incidentally, Osella has a valid research visa till April and his return was slated much before the expiry.