IndiGo ground staff manhandles passenger on Delhi airport's tarmac; airline issues apology, sacks employee

Two days after Olympic silver medalist shuttler PV Sindhu accused an IndiGo staffer of misbehaving with her, another incident of the airline’s ground staff members manhandling a passenger has surfaced on social media.

#WATCH: IndiGo staff manhandle a passenger at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport (Note: Strong language) pic.twitter.com/v2ola0YzqC

— ANI (@ANI) November 7, 2017

The incident reportedly took place on 15 October. However, Firstpost could not independently verify the date of the incident.

The video shows two ground staff members dragging and beating the passenger on the tarmac of the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi.  The 53-year-old passenger, identified as Rajiv Katyal, had flown in from Chennai on Indigo’s flight 6E 487. After alighting from the flight, he reportedly got into an argument with the airline staff members and abused them, reported The Times Of India.  

The video shows the airline staff members first requesting Katyal to not hurl abuses, however, as the argument intensified, the two airline staff members grip Katyal and pin him to the ground by his throat.

Hours after the news emerged, Civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju has taken serious note of the incident and has asked for a report from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Raju has also condemned the incident and said that violence of any sort is deplorable and criminal action should be taken in such cases, reported ANI

Seeking report from DGCA. Violence of any sort is deplorable and should result in criminal action: Civil Aviation Minister AG Raju #IndiGo

— ANI (@ANI) November 7, 2017

On the other hand, IndiGo has issued an apology for the incident. The airline in its apology on Twitter has said that the incident was investigated by an internal committee and the main culprit’s employment has been terminated immediately.

We truly apologise to Mr. Rajiv Katiyal for this incident & assure him that the employee has been terminated. pic.twitter.com/9xZcSftgit

— IndiGo (@IndiGo6E) November 7, 2017

IndiGo president Aditya Ghosh also said in a statement,“I acknowledge the unpleasant experience our passenger went through while engaging with our staff at Delhi airport. I had personally spoken to the passenger and asked for an apology…Under the code of conduct violation, this incident was investigated and stern action was taken against the staff,” NDTV  reported_._

We condemn the actions of our staff & have taken stern action. We truly apologize for this. Such behavior is unacceptable - @AdityaGhosh6E pic.twitter.com/lGNT8An7rQ

— IndiGo (@IndiGo6E) November 7, 2017