Anyone can get angry when wronged, says Sena as Delhi Police file FIR against Gaikwad for Air India staffer assault

The Shiv Sena backed its MP Ravindra Gaikwad while the Delhi Police filed an FIR against him on Friday amid the controversy over his assaulting an Air India staffer.

The Shiv Sena backed its MP Ravindra Gaikwad while the Delhi Police filed an FIR against him on Friday amid the controversy over his assaulting an Air India staffer.

Lok Sabha MP Ravindra Gaikwad(HT File Photo)

The Delhi Police transferred the case to its Crime Branch after registering the FIR under sections 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 355 (assault or criminal force with intent to dishonour person) of the Indian Penal Code, said Dependra Pathak, Delhi Police’s chief spokesperson and special commissioner (operations).

“We are transferring the case to Crime Branch for a thorough probe,” he said.

Meanwhile in Mumbai, Sena spokesperson S Raut told ANI that any person – be it minister or a common man – is likely to lose his temper if someone misbehaved with them, supporting Gaikwad’s version of the events.

Gaikwad, the Lok Sabha MP from Maharashtra’s Osmanabad seat, slapped and hit 60-year-old duty manager R Sukumar “25 times” with his sandal when the official persuaded him to disembark from a Pune-Delhi flight after it landed in the Delhi.

The MP refused to alight due a disagreement over his business-class flight ticket, holding up the aircraft for over 40 minutes on Thursday.

Police received two complaints – one from Air India and the other from Sukumar.

The Delhi Police said they filed the FIR after a seeking legal opinion on the matter.

Earlier in the day, Air India announced that Gaikwad was banned from flying with them, and soon five other domestic airlines followed suit.