Nobel laureate Venkatraman Ramakrishnan was in for a surprise as he tried to buy an iPhone, putting down his first name as Venki.u00a0
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British mobile phones major O2 did not find him credit-worthy enough to sell him the phone right away, leading to the scientist suspecting an element of racism behind the bizarre case.

Ramakrishnan, an Indian-American currently researching here, was forced to pay a three-month deposit of 325 pounds at the O2 store in Cambridge in December last year, when most applicants with good credit histories are not asked for a deposit.