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'I hit him 25 times with my sandals, says Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad after assaulting Air India manager

An Air India Spokesperson Informed About The Incident. Gaikwad Accepted That He Had Thrashed The Staff Member, Saying The Latter Had Misbehaved With Him.

News Nation Bureau | Edited By : Vikas Mehta | Updated on: 23 Mar 2017, 04:34:45 PM
Air India flight

New Delhi:

Power drunk politicians often display their mightiness in public. A similar example surfaced when Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad hit an Air India staff member with his slippers nearly 25 times over seat issue.

An Air India spokesperson informed about the incident. Gaikwad accepted that he had thrashed the staff member, saying the latter had misbehaved with him.  

The airline will be filing an FIR against the MP. It has also constituted a committee to look into the incident and will be submitting its report shortly to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, according to Air India.

“The MP turned violent, broke the duty manager’s spectacles, tore his shirt, hit him with slippers 16-17 times,” said Air India sources.

According to the airline, Gaikwad was booked on an open ticket in business class with Air India which allows a passenger to take a flight on any date.

But Gaikwad insisted on taking the 7:35 am AI 852 this morning from Pune to Delhi, which is an all-economy flight, sparking an argument between Air India staff and the politician.

The MP boarded the flight but refused to alight from the aircraft when it landed at IGI airport here. This is when the 60-year-old duty manager, Shivkumar, approached the MP to try and placate him but was brutally manhandled, said Air India sources.

Also Read: NCP MLA denies slapping official after video goes viral

Gaikwad admitted hitting the Air India employee with his slippers. “He asked who is this MP and said he would complain to Modi. So I slapped him. I hit him 25 times with my sandal.

“I am Shiv Sena member, not of BJP, to entertain abuses (hurled at me),” he said adding he “will not apologise”. Gaikwad said he would also complain to the Lok Sabha Speaker about the incident.

Also Read: London-bound Air India aircraft escorted by fighter jets after it loses contact with Air Traffic Control

It has not happened for the first time when a political leader misbehaved with a public servant.

In February, Rajasthan BJP MLA Chandra Kanta Meghwal’s husband had thrashed a cop when latter had issued a challan against a BJP party worker’s vehicle.

 Last year, NCP MLA from Karjat, Suresh Lad had allegedly slapped deputy collector, Abhay Kargutkar, after a disagreement over compensation to farmers for land acquisition in Maharashtra’s Raigad district. 

(With inputs from PTI)

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First Published : 23 Mar 2017, 02:34:00 PM

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