Delhi: Upset Over Diversion, Passenger Falsely Tweets Of Flight Being Hijacked

The accused told the police that he posted the tweet because he was annoyed that the flight was stuck.

Passengers at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi.

New Delhi: Man arrested for was taken into custody for allegedly tweeting falsely that a flight from Dubai to Jaipur had been hijacked, said police, reported news agency PTI. The incident took place on Wednesday. According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (Airport) Ravi Kumar Singh, Moti Singh Rathore, a resident of Nagaur in Rajasthan, arrived at the Indira Gandhi International Airport after a Dubai-Jaipur flight was diverted to Delhi due to inclement weather.

The flight was given permission to depart at 1:40 p.m. after landing at 9:45 a.m. The police claimed that in the interim, Rathore tweeted, "flight highjack."

After conducting the necessary checks, the flight was permitted to depart with Rathore and his bag. They claimed that he was turned over to the local police for further action.

They added that the accused told the police that he posted the tweet because he was annoyed that the flight was stuck.

According to the police, a case was opened and Rathore was taken into custody.

This is the latest in a series of aviation-related incidents to garner media attention recently. On November 26, 2013, Shankar Mishra was accused of peeing on a 70-year-old woman in the business class of an Air India aircraft.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Tuesday imposed a penalty of Rs 10 lakhs on Air India for not reporting the December 6, 2022, incident, wherein a passenger onboard its Paris-Delhi flight allegedly relieved himself on a vacant seat and the blanket of a woman flyer to the civil aviation regulator. Air India also allegedly delayed in referring the matter to its internal committee.

The DGCA had earlier issued a show-cause notice to the accountable manager of Air India as to why enforcement action should not be taken against them for dereliction of their regulatory obligations pertaining to passengers' misbehaviour onboard the Paris-New Delhi flight on December 6.