Taslima on a shopping spree

It was a welcome break for controversial Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasrin, who let her hair down and went on a shopping spree at some of the most crowded markets of the national capital.

It was a welcome break for controversial Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasrin, who let her hair down and went on a shopping spree at some of the most crowded markets of the national capital.

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Sources close to Taslima, who was dramatically bundled out from West Bengal in November 2007, said the writer went out a couple of days back to shop for ethnic Bengali designer dresses in markets, including the bargainer's paradise-- Sarojini Nagar.

Escorted by securitymen in civil clothes, who kept a close vigil from a distance so as not to let her identity out, Taslima purchased several apparels, they said.

The 46-year-old Bangladeshi writer, who came here on August 6 for visa extension, has said that India is her "adopted country".

Taslima, who shot into fame with her controversial book "Lajja" in 1993, has been a target of Islamic fundamentalists.

The doctor-turned writer, had expressed her desire to visit Kolkata, which has been turned down saying the radical elements may try and harm her, the sources said.

She is set to leave the country for United States later this month, probably after celebrating her birthday on August 25, to work as a research scholar at the New York University.