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Delhi

IndiGo ground staff manhandle passenger, airline apologises

NEW DELHI: In a shocker, IndiGo ground staff manhandled and dragged a passenger at Delhi Airport on October 15 after a tiff. An airline employee who acted as a whistleblower tried to intervene and shot a video of this violence was sacked by the airline.

This drama unfolded on October 15 when 6E 487 flew into Delhi from Chennai. After alighting from the Airbus A-320, a passenger Rajiv Katiyal got into an argument with some ground staffers over some issue, and he allegedly abused them. What sparked this argument has not yet been ascertained.
Two to three IndiGo ground staffers stopped Katyal from boarding the bus which was taking passengers to the terminal. They then manhandled him and dragged him on the tarmac for over a minute. An IndiGo employee, Montu Kalra, who was at the site tried to intervene and shot a video of his colleagues manhandling the passenger.
Instead of acting against the employees who thrashed passenger Katiyal, IndiGo sacked Kalra whose wife is pregnant and who needs the job desperately for his growing family.
On Tuesday, when Kalra's video became public and was aired by a television channel, the airline — 22 days after the episode — issued a much-belated apology to the passenger. Aviation minister Jayant Sinha spoke to IndiGo founder Rahul Bhatia and has sought a detailed report on this issue. He said once the passenger lodges a criminal complaint (FIR) against the IndiGo employees who beat him up, they will lose their security clearance for airport passes and not be able to go there for their job. Tellingly, the guilty employees of IndiGo will not be able to work in the aviation industry, Sinha said.

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