A day after an off-duty Air India Express pilot allegedly assaulted a passenger at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, the ministry of civil aviation on Saturday said they have taken cognizance of the incident and directed the airline to ground the pilot with immediate effect.
The ministry said a formal enquiry has been ordered and detailed reports have been sought from the bureau of civil aviation security (BCAS) and the central industrial security force (CISF). Delhi Police said they had not received any formal complaint in connection with the incident.
“The Ministry of Civil Aviation has taken serious cognizance of the incident and directed the airline to ground the pilot with immediate effect. A formal enquiry has been ordered. Detailed reports have been sought from BCAS and CISF,” the ministry responded to the victim Ankit Dewan’s post on X.
After the incident on Friday, the passenger had shared his experience in a social media post along with a photo showing blood on his face. The staffer, Virender Sejwal, was suspended by the airline.
“With reference to a social media post on platform X by @ankitdewan, alleging physical assault by an Air India Express pilot at Terminal-1 of the airport it is clarified that no such matter has been reported to the police station either by @ankidewan or by the airlines. The matter has come to the knowledge of the police through this social media post. Whenever a written complaint is filed by the victim, appropriate legal action will be taken,” deputy commissioner of police (IGI) Vichitra Veer said.
Meanwhile, the victim in another social media post, mentioned that he was contacted by two officials from the Air India Express headquarters, who told him that the incident reflected the actions of an individual and not what the company stands for.
“While the actions of the pilot do not reflect the beliefs of the company, he was on official duty (entering as staff). Thus they cannot shirk responsibility. AIX has to publicly declare a date by which their internal investigation will be complete. At the declared date, AIX has to inform the public of the action they have decided to take against Virender Sejwal,” Dewan posted on Saturday evening.
In the previous post on Friday, Dewan said that the captain assaulted him at Terminal 1 of the Delhi airport and his seven-year-old daughter, who saw the assault, was left traumatised and scared.
He claimed that he and his family were guided to use the security check that the staff uses because they had a four-month-old baby in a stroller. “The staff was cutting the queue ahead of me. On calling them out, Capt. Virender, who himself was doing the same thing, asked me if I was anpadh (uneducated), and couldn’t read the signs that said this entry was for staff,” he said in the X post.
Dewan said an argument broke out and the pilot assaulted him.
An Air India Express spokesperson said, “We are aware of an incident at Delhi Airport involving one of our employees, who was travelling as a passenger on another airline, and had an altercation with another passenger. We unequivocally condemn such behaviour. The employee has been removed from official duties with immediate effect, pending investigation. Appropriate disciplinary action will be initiated based on the findings of the inquiry.”