Delhi Police still on ‘hunt’ for businessman who peed on co-passenger in Air India flight

The accused, identified as Shankar Mishra, the vice-president of the India chapter of a multinational financial services company headquartered in California

New Delhi: Multiple teams of Delhi Police are on the look for the businessman, who has urinated on his female co-passenger on an Air India flight coming from the US, at various locations in Mumbai and other places, an official said on Thursday.

The accused, identified as Shankar Mishra, the vice-president of the India chapter of a multinational financial services company headquartered in California, was not found at any of his known locations in Mumbai, an official said.

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“We are hopeful that he will be nabbed soon,” a senior police official said.

Delhi Police have booked Mishra under Sections 510 (misconduct in public by a drunken person), 509 (insulting the modesty of a woman), 294 (sings, recites or utters any obscene song, ballad or words, in or near any public place), 354 (intending to outrage modesty) of the Indian Penal Code as well as a section of the Aircraft Rules Act in a case registered at IGI airport police station.

An Air India spokesperson on Wednesday had said that Air India has taken a very serious view of the incident, where a passenger behaved in an unacceptable and undignified manner on the New York-Delhi flight that caused extreme distress to a fellow passenger.

However, India‘s aviation regulator DGCA said that the conduct of Air India in the case was unprofessional and has led to a systemic failure.

Observing that provisions related to handling of an unruly passenger onboard have not been complied with, it asked why enforcement action should not be taken against the airline executives concerned for dereliction of their regulatory obligations in the matter.

The aviation regulator has noted that the incident of passenger misbehaviour with a female co-passenger was reported to it only on January 4, despite happening on November 26.

On the other hand, Air India in its report to DGCA about the incident said that the female passenger initially requested that action be taken against the offender upon arrival, however subsequently rescinded her request after the two parties appeared to sort the matter out between them.

As per sources, the airline in its report said that the cabin crew reported the incident to the Commander and logged it in the Voyage Report. As there was no further flare up or confrontation, and respecting the perceived wishes of the female passenger, crew elected not to summon law enforcement upon landing, the response said.

Meanwhile, the Civil Aviation Ministry has taken a strong note of the matter and has asked the airline to conduct a detailed internal probe into the matter and submit the report.