A 23-year-old man on board Vistara’s Mumbai-Delhi flight was arrested after he was heard speaking over his phone about a “hijacking plan” on Thursday evening. The police said it later came to light that the man is mentally unstable and has been undergoing medical treatment since 2021.
The flyer has been identified as Ritesh Juneja from Haryana and the complaint was lodged by a crew member who heard the conversation. Juneja was immediately deplaned and handed over to the security personnel. A thorough check of the aircraft was conducted and the flight later took off for Delhi following a clearance by the authorities.
Flight Attendant Heard Passenger Planning Hijack
A police official said the incident took place before the flight was to take off and the cabin crew members were engaged in their work. “A member of the cabin crew heard the flyer saying in Hindi ‘Ahmedabad ka flight board karne wala hain. Koi bhi dikkat ho to mujhe call karna’,” the complainant said.
The passenger was also heard saying, “Hijack ka sara planning hain. Uska sara access hain, chinta mat karna (All planning for hijacking is done. Don’t worry as there is an access).”
FIR Registered In The Case
The complainant said that some other flyers, too, heard the conversation and got scared; many of them also stood up. The security staff of the flight was called in and the passenger was handed over to the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).
A first information report (FIR) under section 336 (rash or negligent act that endangers human life) and 505 (2) (making statement with intent to cause fear or alarm among people) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was later registered against the passenger.
