AI Express pilot arrested in assault case; released on bail

Sejwal said he had also sustained injuries and casteist remarks were made against him. Police are yet to take any action on Sejwal’s complaint.

Delhi Police have arrested an Air India Express pilot, Captain Virender Sejwal, accused of assaulting a passenger at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport earlier this month.

AI Express pilot arrested in assault case; released on bail

Police said he was arrested on Monday night, hours after being detained, and then released as the sections under which he had been booked are bailable offences.

Police said that, after due enquiry, Sejwal was detained Monday evening and later arrested after interrogation. An investigator said, “He was questioned at length about the incident and the footage we had received. He has said he was off duty that time and was travelling to Bangalore. We have taken action as per technical and medical evidence.”

Police have also collected all the evidence from airport and security agencies. The deputy commissioner of police (IGI), Vichitra Veer, said, “In the process of investigation, after the registration of the case, the relevant CCTV footages had been collected and statements had been recorded. The accused was also called for questioning and he was arrested.”

The incident took place on December 19 when, a passenger, Ankit Dewan posted on social media that an Air India Express captain, later identified as Sejwal, assaulted him at Terminal 1 of the airport and his seven-year-old daughter, who was a witness, was “left traumatised and scared”. Dewan posted a photo of himself with blood on his face.

He alleged that at the airport, he and his family were guided to use the security check area that the staff uses because they had a four-month-old baby. “The staff was cutting the queue ahead of me. On calling them out, Sejwal, 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,” Dewan posted. Subsequently, the men got into a fight.

After Dewan’s social media post, Sejwal was suspended by the airline. On December 20, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) also ordered a formal investigation into the incident.

On the basis of a complaint filed by Dewan later, Sejwal was booked under sections 115 (voluntarily causing hurt), 126 (wrongful restraint), and 351 (criminal intimidation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

A senior police officer last week had said, “We approached airport authorities and have collected the CCTV footage which shows the assault. We also sent the victim for a medical report and have received it. It shows a nasal fracture among other bruises and injuries. We also called the CISF staff to give their statement as they were the first to intervene.”

Sejwal had also filed a complaint against Dewan alleging that he was the one who initiated the fight by abusing him without provocation and continued using abusive, degrading and threatening language. Sejwal said he had also sustained injuries and casteist remarks were made against him. Police are yet to take any action on Sejwal’s complaint.