New Delhi: SpiceJet has alleged that an army officer, who was to board one of its flights at Srinagar airport, attacked four of its employees and caused them “grievous” injuries.

According to a statement by the airline, the attack happened when SpiceJet’s employees asked the officer to pay for excess baggage.

SpiceJet has got an FIR lodged with local police, the statement also said.

As per a report by The Hindu, the army officer is Lieutenant Colonel Ritesh Kumar Singh, who was posted in Gulmarg, and the police have invoked BNS sections relating to voluntarily causing hurt, criminal intimidation and assault or criminal force otherwise than on grave provocation.

The incident happened on July 26 at the boarding gate of flight SG 386 from Srinagar to Delhi at the Srinagar airport.

The passenger was carrying two pieces of cabin baggage weighing a total of 16 kg, more than double the permitted limit of 7 kg, according to SpiceJet’s statement.

It claimed that SpiceJet staff had “politely informed” the passenger about the excess baggage and asked him to pay the applicable charges. However, the passenger allegedly refused and forcefully entered the aerobridge without completing the boarding process. A Central Industrial Security Force official then escorted the passenger back to the gate.

However at the boarding gate, “the passenger grew increasingly aggressive”, according to the airline’s statement.

He physically assaulted four members of the SpiceJet ground staff, kicking, throwing punches and hitting the employees with a queue stand.

When one of them collapsed unconscious on the floor, the passenger continued kicking and hitting him, the statement said.

“Another staff member suffered bleeding from the nose and mouth after receiving a forceful kick to the jaw while bending down to assist the colleague who had fainted,” per the statement.

The injured employees allegedly still remain under treatment at hospital. According to SpiceJet, the staff members suffered a spinal fracture and serious jaw injuries.

Declaring that it would pursue the issue “to its fullest legal and regulatory conclusion”, SpiceJet said in its statement that the company has registered an FIR with the local police, and handed over to them CCTV footage of the incident from the airport authorities. It also said that it has initiated the process to place the passenger on the no-fly list in accordance with civil aviation regulations. 

SpiceJet added that it has written to the Ministry of Civil Aviation appraising them about the “murderous assault”, requesting “appropriate action against the passenger”.

An army spokesperson has been quoted in media reports as saying that the army will extend its “full cooperation to the authorities in investigating the case”.

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