Flyer claims crew 'revenge', cops say 'misinterpretation'

MUMBAI: Ritesh Juneja, a Haryana resident, was handed over the CISF security at Mumbai airport on Thursday after he was overheard talking about 'hijacking' on his moble while boarding a flight to Delhi.
He was arrested by the Sahar police and booked under IPC sections 336 (act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 506 (2) (criminal intimidation). After a delay, the flight left at 7pm without Juneja.

"The reason behind the act is not known. He claimed he was talking to his family and meant no harm to anyone. His talk was misinterpreted by the cabin crew," said an officer of the Sahar police station.
Juneja, who had come to the city a week ago with his father, was produced in the Andheri court on Friday. Lawyers Prabhakar Tripathi and Rohit Upadhayay, appearing for Juneja, said: "A dispute arose between the airhostess and Juneja while he was keeping his luggage. He was talking to his family members about tracking the flight as they were concerned about him and the air-hostess, with a view to taking revenge, lodged the case." Juneja's father had left for Haryana five days ago.
JCP (law & order) Satyanarayan Chaudhary said Juneja had been taken off the flight after he was heard mentioning the hijacking of some flights during a phone conversation.
A Vistara spokesperson confirmed "an incident concerning an unruly passenger on Vistara flight UK 996 scheduled to operate from Mumbai to Delhi on 22 June 2023 at 1830 hrs... relevant authorities were immediately informed and the customer was handed over to them. A thorough check was conducted and the flight took off with the rest of the customers after clearance".
In the last case involving an unruly flyer at Mumbai airport, an inebriated Swedish national was arrested in March for allegedly molesting a cabin crew member on an IndiGo flight from Bangkok to Mumbai.