NEW DELHI/BENGALURU, 7 Jan: The Delhi Police on Saturday arrested from Bengaluru the man who allegedly urinated on a woman co-passenger on an Air India flight, officials said.
The accused, Shankar Mishra, was traced to Bengaluru through technical surveillance, they said. A court in Delhi sent Mishra to 14-day judicial remand.
Mishra allegedly urinated on the woman, a senior citizen, in an inebriated condition in the business class of the Air India flight from New York to Delhi on 26 November last year. The Delhi Police registered an FIR against him on 4 January on a complaint given by the woman to Air India.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Airport) Ravi Kumar Singh said, “Accused Shankar Mishra has been arrested from Bengaluru by a Delhi Police team. He has been brought to Delhi and further investigation into the case is underway.”
A Bengaluru police official said the city police assisted the Delhi Police team in arresting the accused.
Mishra had switched off his mobile phone on 3 January and his last location was traced to Bengaluru, Delhi Police officials said.
According to sources, he used to take taxis to travel in Bengaluru but following the incident, the accused switched to a private vehicle to commute in the city. His travel history was extracted and the route he used to take to reach his office was followed, they said.
Late on Friday night, Mishra’s location was traced to Mysuru. By the time the Delhi Police team reached there, he had fled, they said, adding the accused was finally traced at a homestay at Chinappa Layout on the outskirts of Bengaluru, which he frequented.
Police claimed that he is not cooperating in the investigation and changing his statements.
During interrogation, the accused told police that he does not remember anything about the incident since he was sleepy. It was only when other passengers on the flight told him about his act that he apologised to the victim, police said.
Mishra admitted that he was under the influence of alcohol. He claimed that while travelling in the US, he and his friend took turns driving the car and he did not get proper sleep, a senior police officer said.
He did not seem apologetic about his actions and claimed that he does not remember what happened on the flight, the officer said, adding that the statements of his co-passengers on board the same flight will also be taken but most of them are outside Delhi presently.
While questioning people in connection with the case, the police got to know that, at the time of the incident, the lights in the cabin were dim. He turned around and allegedly urinated on the woman passenger behind him. The person sitting next to the woman also protested, sources said.
Mishra, who was working with US multinational firm Wells Fargo in India, was sacked on Friday. He studied management at a private university in Mumbai and completed his higher studies in the United States.
A background check did not reveal any previous involvement in any case and there was no complaint against him in the American multinational financial services company where he was the vice president of its Indian chapter.
According to the FIR, shortly after lunch was served and the lights were switched off onboard AI 102 on 26 November, 2022, the inebriated male passenger seated in business class seat 8A walked to the elderly woman’s seat, unzipped his pants and urinated on her.
According to the FIR, the accused begged the woman not to lodge a complaint against him, saying he was a family man and did not wish his wife and child to be affected by the incident.
The case has been filed under IPC Sections 294 (obscene act in a public place), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) and 510 (misconduct in public by a drunken person), as well as under the Aircraft Rules.
Three Air India crew members on Saturday joined the investigation at the Indira Gandhi International Airport police station here in connection with the onboard urination case, officials said.
A senior police officer said nine crew members were called, out of whom three recorded their statements on Saturday morning. Their statements will help police to establish the sequence of the alleged event that took place on the flight last November, the official said.
They were called on Friday, but as they were not available in the city, police asked them to join the probe on Saturday.
Tata Group-owned Air India CEO Campbell Wilson on Saturday apologised for the incident and said four cabin crew and a pilot have been de-rostered and the airline is reviewing its “policy on service of alcohol in flight.” (PTI)