New Delhi . A shocking incident has come to light at Terminal 1 of Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, where an off-duty pilot of Air India Express attacked a passenger. The victim passenger Ankit Diwan narrated the entire incident by sharing his bloody pictures and the photo of the pilot on social media. According to him, the fight started over breaking the line during security check, which turned violent. His seven-year-old daughter is shocked by this attack, who witnessed the entire incident.

Ankit Dewan was going on holidays with his family. She had a four-month-old baby in a stroller with her, so airport staff allowed her to use the security line for staff and special needs passengers. According to Diwan, many staff members were breaking the line ahead of him. When he protested, Air India Express Captain Virendra Sejwal, himself off-duty and traveling on another airline’s flight, asked him if he was illiterate and could not read the signboard, which said it was for entry staff.

An argument ensued and as things escalated, the pilot allegedly attacked Dewan, leaving his face bleeding. Diwan wrote in the post that his blood was also on the pilot’s shirt. After the incident, he was pressurized and made to write a letter, in which he was told not to pursue the matter further, otherwise the flight would have been missed and the holiday booking would have been ruined. He raised the question whether the CCTV footage would disappear by the time he returned to Delhi and would justice have to suffer so much.

Air India Express issued a statement after receiving information about the incident. The airline strongly condemned such behavior and said that their employee was traveling as a passenger on another airline’s flight. The accused pilot has been removed from duty with immediate effect until the investigation is completed. Further action will be taken based on the investigation results. The airline expressed condolences to the victim’s family. This incident raises questions on the security arrangements at the airport and the behavior between staff and passengers. The matter came to light following a passenger’s complaint, but details of the immediate action taken by the authorities are not clear. The pilots later left for their destination on another flight. Such incidents create a feeling of insecurity among passengers and underline the responsibility of airlines.