Air India Express pilot arrested, granted bail in Delhi airport assault case
New Delhi: An Air India Express pilot accused of assaulting a passenger at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport was arrested and later released on bail, as the offence is bailable, Delhi Police said on Tuesday.
The accused pilot has been identified as Captain Virender Sejwal. He was booked in connection with an alleged assault on passenger Ankit Dewan at Terminal 1 of IGI Airport, reported by NDTV.
According to police, a case was registered following a complaint, after which CCTV footage was examined and statements were recorded. The pilot was called for questioning and joined the investigation on Monday.
"Captain Virender Sejwal has joined the investigation. If the IO (Investigating Officer) is not satisfied with his reply, he can be arrested in the assault case. Investigation is being carried out in the matter based on merits and available evidence," NDTV quoted Delhi Police as saying.
Earlier, Ankit Dewan alleged that the incident took place during the security check process while he was travelling with his wife and their four-month-old baby. Speaking to ANI, Dewan said CISF personnel had directed them to a specific security screening area.
As per the report, he claimed that the screening lane used older machines and was already crowded, including airline staff and passengers carrying large musical instruments. Dewan said he asked his wife to take their baby through the ladies’ queue while he managed the luggage, which included multiple bags, trays and a stroller.
Dewan also raised questions to the airport operator DIAL, the aviation regulator DGCA, and the airlines, seeking clarity on the incident involving the off-duty Air India Express pilot.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
