manhandling a passenger +

just doing his job +

report submitted to the aviation ministry +

NEW DELHI: The raging controversy over IndiGo ground staffers dragging andat Delhi Airport last month took a new turn on Wednesday with the airline telling the government that the sacked "whistleblower" employee had "instigated" the entire episode.The airline said that the ground staffer blamed for manhandling Rajiv Katyal, who had flown in from Chennai on 6E 487, was trying to prevent the passenger from any harm near the aircraft and was. IndiGo president Aditya Ghosh said this in a detailedon Wednesday.In the report, Aditya Ghosh acknowledged that the airline was at fault and that it not only apologised for the regrettable incident, but also also took action by suspending people pending probe. He then gave the airline's version of the sequence of events."The ex-employee, Montu Kalra who was terminated and is claiming to be the 'whistleblower', is the one you can hear shouting in the video and instructing the other two colleagues, who were junior to him, to prevent the customer from boarding the bus and to hold him back at the ramp itself. He instigated the incident and further provoked the customer by beginning to shoot a video on his mobile phone.Giving the airline's version, Ghosh said passengers have to be prevented from getting near any live ground equipment to avoid hurting themselves. "When our staff Juby Thomas saw Mr Katyal inadvertently moving towards the catering high-lift (which was attached to the aircraft), Thomas started waving frantically from a distance to ask Mr Katyal to move away with the sole intention of preventing any accident," Ghosh's report says adding, "Thomas started shouting to be heard by the passenger due to the high aircraft noise.""It is possible that due to the very noisy ramp area, Mr Katyal could not hear Juby Thomas properly and … may have felt Thomas was being rude. The reality is that Juby Thomas was only trying to ensure the safety of Mr Katyal and prevent an accident," the letter says.It adds that Katyal was "irritated and irate". "It seems Mr Katyal asked Juby Thomas to 'f*** *ff'… Thomas turned around and asked Mr Katyal why was he abusing him." After this, the airline gives a sequence of events with pictures from the now-viral video clip which are as follows:First, "Montu Kalra is shouting at the two employees who are junior to him and instructing them to prevent Mr Katyal from boarding the bus." While Thomas asks Katyal not to board the bus, another ground staffer, Sahiv Sharma, asks the driver to drive the bus away. At this time, the passenger is arguing with Thomas and trying to enter the bus.When the bus doors close, IndiGo report says, "Katyal reaches out and grabs Juby's (who is keeping a safe distance) face." "Even while Juby Thomas is being assaulted, Thomas does not retaliate and Sahiv Sharma (the other ground staffer) tries to separate the two by embracing Mr Katyal from the back and escorting him away. Even after Mr Katyal is separated from Thomas, he once again charges towards him grabbed Thomas' face … in the process both of them lose balance and fall to the ground …. Thomas (tries) to move away while he continues to get assaulted."Ghosh accepted that he wished the 'regrettable' situation was "handled differently". "Whatever may have been the provocation, whether verbal or physical abuse, we could have tried to display more restraint."He then added that he apologized to the customer "the very same night" and assured him of a thorough probe. The employees were suspended.While IndiGo has given its version to the aviation ministry, the latter has launched its probes into the case. Aviation minister AG Raju said the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) is issuing a show cause to the low cost carrier (LCC) and he has asked the Directorate General of Civil Aviation to conduct an independent probe. The airport entry passes (AEP) of the three ground staffer involved in this incident have been suspended pending investigation and BCAS is asking IndiGo if the passes have been handed over by the employees or not."This incident deserves to be condemned. The fisticuffs witnessed are not acceptable. IndiGo promoter Rahul Bhatia has met me and he will send the video to me. I told him this kind of barbarous act cannot be allowed," Raju said.