The International Airport police on Tuesday, May 16, arrested a 56-year-old man who was caught smoking in the washroom of a domestic flight.
The accused Praveen Kumar, native of Rajasthan, was flying in Akasa Air domestic flight from Ahmedabad to Bengaluru.
Few passengers got the smell of smoke and alerted the cabin crew, who caught Praveen Kumar red-handed and handed him over to the police as soon as the flight landed at the Kempegowda International Airport.
Based on the complaint filed by Vijay Thulluru, Duty Manager, SNV aviation Pvt. Ltd., KIAL, Bengaluru, the police have booked a case and are probing to ascertain security lapses. The Police have booked the accused under Section 25 of the Aircraft rules and also under Section 336 (endangering human life and personal safety of others) and arrested him.
“On May 16, a passenger on Akasa Air flight QP1326, flying from Ahmedabad to Bengaluru, was found smoking in the lavatory of the aircraft. Our crew followed the required safety protocols and the passenger was handed over to the local police with the help of CISF, upon landing in Bengaluru. We are assisting authorities with their investigation into this matter,” Akasa Air Spokesperson said.
This is the third such incident reported this year as a Seheri Choudhari, 20, from Govindapura village in Assam was caught smoking in a toilet mid-air in the last week of March. He managed to hoodwink the security staff and got the cigarette pack and lighter in the backpack.
Earlier in March first week, a 24-year-old woman was arrested for smoking in the lavatory. The accused Priyanka Chakraborty was from Sealdah, in West Bengal. In both the cases the accused managed to get the cigarettes and lighter hoodwinking the security checks at the airports.
