Lookout Notice Issued Against 'Absconding' Accused Who Urinated On Woman In Air India Flight

The accused, a resident of Mumbai, is said to be absconding as Delhi Police tries to trace him. The Bureau of Immigration was asked to issue a lookout circular against the man.

Meanwhile, Air India CEO Campbell Wilson has reportedly asked the airline staff to report any improper behaviour on aircraft to authorities at the earliest even if the matter appears to have been settled.

Source : PTI

New Delhi: The Delhi Police on Thursday informed that it has urged the Bureau of Immigration to issue a lookout circular against the man, who had allegedly urinated on his female co-passenger on an Air India flight, to prevent him from leaving the country. This pertains to the shocking incident wherein the accused, allegedly in an inebriated condition, had urinated on his co-passenger, a senior citizen in her seventies, in the business class of an Air India New York-Delhi flight on November 26 last year.

Multiple teams were sent to Mumbai to nab the man but he was absconding. An FIR was registered against the man on Wednesday based on the complaint given by the victim to Air India, the police said, as reported by news agency PTI.

According to the police, the accused has been identified as Shankar Mishra, the vice president of the India Chapter of an American multinational financial services company headquartered in California.  "We have written to the authorities in the immigration department to issue lookout circular against the accused to prevent him from leaving the country," a senior police official said, as quoted by PTI.

"Mishra is a resident of Mumbai. We had sent our teams to Mumbai at his known locations but he was absconding. Our teams are trying to trace him," he added.

As the lookout notice was issued, only four crew members have joined the police investigation so far, news agency ANI reported, further adding that others are going to join the probe today.

DGCA Notice To Air India

Aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Thursday held that Air India's conduct appeared to be "unprofessional" as it issued notices to the officials and crew of the New York-Delhi flight, seeking an explanation on why action should not be taken against them for "dereliction" of duty while handling the November 26 "urination" incident.

Air India CEO Tells Staff To Report Any Improper Behaviour On Aircraft

Air India CEO Campbell Wilson has reportedly asked the airline staff to report any improper behaviour on aircraft to authorities at the earliest even if the matter appears to have been settled.

According to PTI, he addressed the urinating incident in an internal communication to airlines' employees and said that "the repulsion felt by the affected passenger is totally understandable and we share her distress."

"Whilst the story is more complicated than has been reported, there are clearly some lessons we can and must learn. Most importantly is that, if an incident on our aircraft involves improper behaviour of such magnitude, we must report it to authorities at the earliest opportunity, even if we genuinely believe that the matter has been settled between the parties involved," he stated, as quoted by PTI

"The same applies in the case of passengers deemed to meet the threshold of 'Unruly'," he added.

Two Separate Incidents Of 'Urinating In Air India Flights

Ten days after the November 26 urinating incident, another instance of a drunk male passenger allegedly urinating on a female passenger's blanket was reported on the Paris-Delhi flight but there was no penal action after he gave a written apology, PTI reported officials as saying on Thursday.

This incident happened on December 6, on Air India flight 142, and the pilot of the aircraft reported the matter to the Air Traffic Control (ATC) at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, after which the male passenger was apprehended, they informed.

In the New York-Delhi flight matter, a case was registered under Indian Penal Code sections 294 (obscene act in public place), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) and 510 (misconduct in public by a drunken person) as well as under Aircraft Rules based on the victim's complaint.

Air India on Wednesday announced that it has imposed a 30-day flying ban on the accused passenger and set up an internal panel to probe whether there were lapses on part of the crew in addressing the situation.