New Delhi: The senior Indian Army officer, accused of assaulting airline staffers at the Srinagar airport in July this year, has been placed in the ‘No Fly’ list by most major airlines in the country, Hindustan Times has reported.
The violent assault by the officer, identified as Lt Col Ritesh Kumar Singh, was captured on CCTV cameras and later circulated on social media.
He was seen assaulting four members of the SpiceJet staff. One of them was severely injured.
“IndiGo, Air India, Air India Express and Akasa Air have imposed a ban,” HT has quoted an official as saying. SpiceJet had banned him soon after the incident.
“This was done taking into account the gruesome nature of the attack that left one of the employees with two fractures on his back, making him bedridden for three months,” the official said.
The incident occurred on July 26, at the boarding gate of flight SG 386 from Srinagar to Delhi. SpiceJet said in a statement that the dispute began after staff informed the officer that his two cabin bags weighed 16 kg, more than double the 7 kg limit.
“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 had said after the incident.
“At the gate, the passenger grew increasingly aggressive and physically assaulted four members of the SpiceJet ground staff,” the airline had added.
The video showed the officer, posted at the High Altitude Warfare School (HAWS) in Gulmarg, Jammu and Kashmir, hitting staff with a queue stand. It went viral on August 3.
“The airline employees were subjected to grave physical abuse as well as life-threatening violence and grievous hurt when the passenger slapped, punched and kicked them in the back, face and abdomen,” another official has said.
“The acts and conduct of the unruly passenger in the video clearly showed that he was the first one to react, assault and/or hit the complainants, and not vice versa. There was no provocation or humiliation to the passenger since what was being sought from him to comply (payment for extra baggage) is a norm that is followed by all airlines Hence, such grave physical assault is absolutely unacceptable in any scenario,” the official added.
It was felt by airlines that collective action is necessary to send a strong message about the safety of frontline aviation workers, who often face aggressive behaviour while enforcing basic rules.
“This level of violence cannot be normalised,” an official said, adding that the ban reflects a zero tolerance approach across the sector.
As per Civil Aviation Rules, the passenger has the right to challenge the ban.
After banning Lt Col Singh from any of their domestic, international, scheduled or non- scheduled flights, SpiceJet had lodged a case with the local police and handed over CCTV footage of the incident.
The Army, in a statement on August 3, said it is fully cooperating with the authorities in the matter.
