Air India Exp pilot who assaulted passenger, booked

Captain Virender Sejwal has been booked under sections 115 (voluntarily causing hurt), 126 (wrongful restraint), and 351 (criminal intimidation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

Published on: Dec 23, 2025, 04:10:16 IST

By Jignasa Sinha

Prefer HTon Google

Share via

Copy link

An FIR has been registered against the Air India Express pilot who allegedly assaulted a passenger at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport last week. Police on Monday said cross complaints were filed by both parties against each other.

Air India Exp pilot who assaulted passenger, booked

Captain Virender Sejwal has been booked under sections 115 (voluntarily causing hurt), 126 (wrongful restraint), and 351 (criminal intimidation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

On Friday, a passenger, Ankit Dewan posted on social media that an Air India Express captain 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. Deputy commissioner of police (west) Vichitra Veer had said nobody approached the police during the fight and that the police found out about the incident through social media.

However, on Monday, police said two complaints have been received via email in the matter.

The first complaint, filed by Sejwal, states that Dewan initiated the fight by abusing him “without provocation and continued using abusive, degrading and threatening language”. Sejwal said he also sustained injuries. Police said they are probing the accusations.

The second complaint, filed by Dewan on Monday, claims Sejwal beat him up in front of his family members after he asked him not to cut the queue.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jignasa Sinha
Jignasa Sinha is a Special Correspondent at Hindustan Times in New Delhi. With more than six years of reporting experience, she covers crime and policing in the national capital. Her beats also include Delhi prisons, the Delhi Fire Services and Delhi courts, while she regularly reports on gender, labour and social justice. Over the course of her career, Jignasa has reported on major criminal investigations, international crime syndicates, high-profile cyber fraud cases, law-and-order developments, protests, disasters and public institutions. Her reporting combines breaking news with in-depth, long form, human interest stories that examine the human impact of public policy, policing and the criminal justice system. In addition to reporting for the newspaper, she contributes to the Hindustan Times website and app, and plays an active role in coordinating on-ground coverage of major developments and breaking news across Delhi. Before joining Hindustan Times, Jignasa worked at The Indian Express newspaper in New Delhi, where she spent five years covering crime, Delhi airport, courts and health. She began her journalism career as an intern at an AI magazine in Bengaluru while pursuing her postgraduate diploma in multimedia journalism at the Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media.Read More

Catch every big hit, every wicket with Crickit, a one stop destination for Live Scores, Match Stats, Infographics & much more. Explore now!

Stay updated with all top Cities including, Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai and more across India. Stay informed on the latest happenings in World News along with Delhi Election 2025 and Delhi Election Result 2025 Live, New Delhi Election Result Live, Kalkaji Election Result Live at Hindustan Times.