Man accused of urinating on his fellow Air India passenger arrested from Bengaluru homestay
Preliminary probe finds that Mumbai-based Shankar Mishra was drunk & committed the act after he couldn’t find a toilet. Arrest comes a day after lookout notice was issued for him.
New Delhi: The man accused of urinating on a fellow passenger on an Air India flight from New York to Delhi has been arrested, a senior police officer in the Delhi Police said Saturday.
According to police sources, Shankar Mishra was hiding at a homestay in Bengaluru.
“Accused Shankar Mishra has been arrested from Bangalore by a Delhi Police team. He has been brought to Delhi. The investigation is ongoing,” a senior police officer told ThePrint.
Police teams were on the lookout for him and had been keeping a watch on the places he had stayed in before, another police source said.
“He had earlier stayed in the same homestay,” the source said. “Based on surveillance and local inputs, his location was found to be in this homestay. He was nabbed with assistance from the Bengaluru Police.”
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Airport) Ravi Kumar Singh confirmed the arrest.
The development comes a day after Wells Fargo, the American finance company where Mishra worked, fired him.
“Wells Fargo holds employees to the highest standards of professional and personal behaviour and we find these allegations deeply disturbing. This individual has been terminated from Wells Fargo,” the company said in a statement.
According to police sources, Mishra lives in Mumbai with his wife and daughter.
The incident took place on 26 November. A First Information Report was lodged against Mishra under sections 294 (obscene act), 354 (outraging a woman’s modesty), 509 (act intended to insult woman’s modesty), and 510 (misconduct in public under influence of alcohol of the Indian Penal Code, as well as relevant sections of the Aircraft Rules 1937.
ThePrint had previously reported that Mishra’s last known location was Bengaluru and that he was suspected to be in touch with his lawyers.
Several teams were formed and sent to Mumbai and Bengaluru to arrest him. Additionally, a lookout notice had also been issued for him.
Also Read: Air India incident shows Indians are world’s worst passengers. Fine them, arrest them
Cabin crew contacted
Sources told ThePrint the Delhi Police has issued summons to eight crew members, including the pilot of the flight. Four crew members have already been contacted, the sources said.A preliminary probe allegedly shows that Mishra, who was drunk, urinated on an elderly woman after he couldn’t find the washroom.
Mishra’s lawyers Ishani Sharma and Akshat Bajpai said in a statement Friday said that the woman complainant had “condoned” him.
“WhatsApp messages between the accused and the lady clearly show that the accused had got the clothes and bags cleaned on 28 November and the same were delivered on the 30th November. The lady in her message has clearly condoned the alleged act and has displayed no intention to lodge a complaint,” the lawyers said.
“The lady’s persisting grievance was only with respect to the adequate compensation being paid by the Airline for which she has raised subsequent complaints on 20 December 2022. The accused paid the compensation as agreed between the parties on PayTM on November 28th but after almost a month on December 19 her daughter returned the money back.”
https://theprint.in/india/man-accus...ger-arrested-from-bengaluru-homestay/1302813/
Court sends accused Shankar Mishra to 14-day judicial custody in Air India ‘peeing’ incident
The court, while rejecting a plea by police for his custody, noted that on the basis of the evidence, the accused prima facie did not cooperate in the investigation.
New Delhi: A Delhi court on Saturday sent Shankar Mishra, accused of urinating on a woman co-passenger on an Air India flight, to judicial remand for 14 days while rejecting a plea by police for his custody.The police sought his remand for three days for custodial interrogation, saying he was required to be identified by three cabin crew members and two captains and other co-passengers were also to be examined.
Metropolitan Magistrate Anamika passed the order to send Mishra to judicial remand, noting that his custody was not required by the police for recording the statements of other witnesses, including cabin crew and co-passengers.
“Just because there’s public pressure, don’t do this. Go by the law,” the judge said.
“All reasons stated above… . PC is not required for recording the statement of witnesses. They can be interrogated in his absence. Statements can be recorded, and there is no requirement of his PC,” the judge said.
The court noted that on the basis of the evidence, the accused prima facie did not cooperate in the investigation.
“Perusal of records shows that the accused was deliberately avoiding joining of investigation. In order to make further investigation, recording of statements of crew members, recording statements, his custody is not required,” the judge said.
During the arguments, the court asked the police why it required his custody.
“He is not required for others’ questioning, TIP (Test Identification Parade). Everything is known? Why his custody is required? Nobody else is to be arrested. No ground of PC,” the judge said.
The police submitted before the court during the arguments that the cabin crew did not handle the situation and that they were also complicit in the alleged offence.
The police, meanwhile, refused to hand over a copy of the FIR to an advocate appearing for the complainant, saying the “case has been so viral, we do not want to give a copy of the complaint to anyone but complainant”.
Bengaluru police had assisted Delhi police in arresting Shankar Mishra, accused of urinating on a co-passenger on a Delhi-bound Air India flight from New York on November 26, from Sanjay Nagar area in the city.
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
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Air India Urination case: Delhi Court sends Shankar Mishra to 14 days judicial custody
New Delhi [India], January 7 (ANI): Delhi’s Patiala House Court on Saturday sent accused Shankar Mishra, who had allegedly urinated on a co-passenger onboard an Air India flight between New York and Delhi on November 26 last year, to 14 days judicial custody.
The Delhi Police had sought three days of police custody of Shankar Mishra.
Advocate Manu Sharma appearing for Shankar Mishra submitted that in the FIR only one non-bailable offence is mentioned, others are bailable offences.
Metropolitan Magistrate Anamika recorded the submission made by Police that Shankar Mishra has been non-cooperative.
It further recorded that the same court issued a non-bailable warrant against him.
“Accused Shankar Mishra’s mobile phone was traced and he was located in Bengaluru. He could not even be traced at his workplace. The entire material points out that he was deliberately not joining the probe,” noted the Delhi Court.
Meanwhile, accused Shankar Mishra’s lawyer moved a bail plea in Delhi’s Patiala Court. The plea will be heard on January 11.
Before taking to the Patiala House Court in Delhi, the accused was taken to Safdarjung Hospital for a medical examination.
He was arrested by Delhi Police from Bengaluru last night.
Notably, the Delhi Police has so far recorded the statements of three crew members of Air India today in connection with the case.
Mishra had allegedly urinated on a 70-year-old woman in an intoxicated condition in business class of an Air India flight on November 26 last year.
The accused was arrested by the Delhi Police today from Bengaluru and brought to Delhi, police said.
Delhi Police had registered an FIR against him on January 4 on a complaint given by the woman to Air India.
The police registered an FIR under sections 354, 509, and 510 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 23 of the Indian Aircraft Act. Both the accused and the victim are from outside Delhi.
US-based financial services company Wells Fargo on Friday also terminated its employee Shankar Mishra.
“Wells Fargo holds employees to the highest standards of professional and personal behaviour and we find these allegations deeply disturbing. This individual has been terminated from Wells Fargo. We are cooperating with law enforcement and ask that any additional inquiries be directed to them,” the company said in a statement.
The company’s statement came after Delhi Police reached out to Wells Fargo to cooperate with investigations against accused Mishra.
Meanwhile, after facing backlash, Air India has issued show cause notices to four of its cabin crew and one pilot and de-rostered them pending investigations.
On Friday, Air India chief executive officer (CEO) Campbell Wilson also asked the airline staff to report any instances of “any improper behaviour on board to authorities at the earliest even if the matter appears to be resolved”.
In a letter to Air India employees, the CEO stated that timely action is necessary against those who don’t follow the flight rules.
Campbell said, “This week has, ‘regrettably’, been dominated by media headlines of which you are no doubt familiar. The repulsion felt by the affected passenger is totally understandable and we share her distress.”
He reiterated the importance of reporting untoward incidents onboard flights to authorities, even if the crew believes it has been resolved. (ANI)
This report is auto-generated from ANI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
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