New Delhi: The Delhi Police detained a 25-year-old man Monday as soon as he was deboarded from a London-bound Air India flight that returned to the capital after his alleged unruly behaviour mid-air.
Identified as Jaskirat Singh Padda from Kapurthala, Punjab, the man was travelling to London with his parents.
According to sources in the Delhi Police, an altercation took place between the cabin crew and the man after he allegedly tried to open the emergency exit door of the aircraft mid air.
Sources in Air India also told ThePrint that Padda allegedly pulled hair and tried to slap the women cabin crew members.
An FIR has been registered against Padda under IPC sections 336 (whoever does any act so rashly or negligently as to endanger human life or the personal safety of others), 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt).
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Indira Gandhi International, IGI Airport) Devesh Kumar Mahla said, “After one hour of take off, one passenger namely Jaskirat Singh was seen at L2 door, trying to open the door. The cabin crew member in her complaint said that she along with her colleague tried to stop him but he threatened to hit them and used unparliamentary language.”
Mahla added, “After that he became violent and hit her on her neck …hard and she fell on the floor. He also allegedly pulled her hair and then hit the other crew member on her face. After that, he was restrained with the help of other crew members and passengers. The flight had to be brought back to Delhi.”
“We are verifying all allegations. We are yet to record the 161 CRPC statements of the two women cabin crew members,” a senior police officer said.
The national carrier had earlier said in a statement that Padda didn’t pay heed to verbal and written warnings and continued with the disorderly conduct. Air India said he caused physical harm to two crew members, forcing the pilot to return to Delhi.
He was immediately handed over to the airport security and an official complaint was lodged against him with the Delhi Airport Police.
The Air India, in a statement, said, “Safety, security and dignity of all on board is important to us at Air India. We are providing all possible support to the affected crew members. We regret the inconvenience caused to the passengers and have rescheduled the flight to depart for London this afternoon.”
DCP Mahla had earlier also said, “We have received a formal complaint from Air India. Legal action has been initiated.” “We are analysing the complaint for relevant sections of law. We will register an FIR accordingly,” he added.
The last couple of months have seen multiple instances of unruly behaviour of air passengers. In January this year, Mumbai-based Shankar Mishra was arrested by the Delhi Police from Bengaluru for allegedly urinating on a fellow passenger, in an inebriated condition. Mishra is currently out on bail.
In another instance, on Saturday, a 40-year-old passenger onboard a Delhi-Bengaluru IndiGo flight was booked for trying to open the emergency door of the aircraft. He was also intoxicated.
Earlier in March, two drunk passengers were arrested for hurling abuses at cabin crew and fellow passengers on a Dubai-Mumbai IndiGo flight.
Also read: London-bound Air India flight returns to Delhi after unruly passenger hurts 2 crew members