The Army officer who assaulted four SpiceJet employees at Srinagar airport last month has been put on the no-fly list for 5 years, said the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) today.
On July 26, the army officer, who was scheduled to board a flight to Delhi, entered the airport carrying two cabin bags when the airline ground staff stopped him. For domestic flights, cabin luggage weighing more than 7 kg attracted additional charges. He was informed of the same, but he became irate and started misbehaving.
"When politely informed of the excess baggage and asked to pay the applicable charges, the passenger refused and forcefully entered the aerobridge without completing the boarding process - a clear violation of aviation security protocols. He was escorted back to the gate by a CISF official," SpiceJet said in a statement.
"At the gate, the passenger grew increasingly aggressive and physically assaulted four members of the SpiceJet ground staff," it added. One of the employees suffered a spinal fracture.
A video of the incident showed the enraged officer hitting several airline employees with an iron stand.
A First Information Report (FIR) has been registered with the local police, and the airline initiated the process to place the passenger on the no-fly list in accordance with civil aviation regulations. The officer had also filed a counter-complaint with the police, alleging assault, following which the police registered an FIR against the airline staffers.
The man who suffered a spinal fracture said that he was hit till blood started oozing from my mouth and nose.
"He hit me with the bag, he punched me and slapped me till blood started oozing from my mouth and nose. Then I fell unconscious. Later, I saw in the videos that he was not allowing anyone to even pick me up. He even assaulted four employees," the injured man said.
"Had I been wrong, then it was a different story. The airline ticket clearly mentioned the baggage allowance for each passenger; however, this gentleman claimed that he did not know about it. I was only doing my job honestly," he added.
Army officials had said the issue came to the notice of the Indian Army and "we are awaiting the conclusion of the pending investigation".
