Ajay Sant

@AirIndiaX, today one of your pilots, Capt. Virender Sejwal, assaulted me physically at T1, Delhi Airport. Here are the facts of the matter,: 🔸 Me & my family were guided to use the security check that the staff uses (also the PRM check), because we had a 4 month old baby in a stroller. 🔸 The staff was cutting the queue ahead of me. On calling them out, Capt. Virender, who himself was doing the same thing, asked me if I was anpadh (uneducated), and couldn't read the signs that said this entry was for staff. 🔸 A verbal scuffle broke out. 🔸 Not able to excercise restraint, the AIX pilot proceeded to physically assault me, leaving me bloody. The blood in the photograph (first comment) on his shirt is also mine. Here are my issues with the whole thing: 🔹 My holiday is ruined. The first thing I have done here is see a doctor. 🔹 My 7 year old daughter, who saw her father get assaulted brutally, is still traumatized & scared. 🔹 I have no clue how @DGCAIndia & @AirIndiaX can allow such pilots to fly. If they can't keep their cool in a scuffle, can they be trusted with the lives of hundreds of people in the sky? 🔹 How can @DelhiAirport get away with such mismanagement, combining staff entry with passengers carrying infants, creating chaos at a sensitive security area? I thought Airports were safe places! 🔹 I was forced to write a letter stating that I will not pursue this matter further ... It was either write that letter, or miss my flight and throw the 1.2 lakhs holiday bookings down the drain. @DelhiPolice, why can't I file a complaint after coming back? Must I sacrifice my money too, to seek justice? Will the CCTV footage disappear in the 2 days till I make it back to Delhi? To my friends & well wishers, I am pretty shaken, but nothing permanent. Can't say the same about my daughter though. 😢

Here is a short video of Capt. Virender Sejwal looking at me lying on the floor, covered in blood, and probably realising the gravity of the situation for the first time. And a few more things that I did not mention in my earlier post: 🔸 My wife kept requesting for first aid. The guy got there after 15 minutes, but empty handed. He said that we must go to the medical centre. While I denied first aid, my wife was very worried and wanted it to be administered, so I said ok. But the medical centre was air side, and @CISFAirport wouldn't let me cross the security. So after some 45 minutes, a suitcase was hauled in with medicines, and then I was given First Aid. Isn't it simply appalling state of affairs at @DelhiAirport ? What if someone needed it urgently? Have you ever heard of an emergency responder showing up empty handed? 🔸 The pilot initially claimed he was from Alliance Air, probably wanting to escape without involving his employer. 🔸 Virender Sejwal was getting frisked at the Security Check while continuing his verbal spat with me. There, he told the CISF guy "main issko maar ke aata hu" (I'll come back after hitting him). My wife who had already cleared security check through the ladies line, heard it clearly. But did CISF take any preventive action? No. 🔸 This lone security check gate had one x-ray machine, and one men & one ladies line. However it was not only being used by staff and people with strollers, but also by people on wheelchairs, and also by people carrying big cabin baggage such as guitars. One x-ray machine for everyone, with staff claiming priority ... It was a ticking time bomb. The person who decided this arrangement at @DelhiAirportGMR should also be found responsible in this as well. 🔸 I was flying @flyspicejet and their senior people reached there as well. Many thanks to them that I was able to catch my plane, as they were in constant communication with the gate. 🔸 My wife couldn't take more pictures or videos because our phones were initially lying in the tray on the x-ray machine, and because she was busy frantically calling people who could help, and because all throughout she had an infant in one arm. Hats off to her for managing all this, and also her own emotions at a time like this. Found her crying silently late into the night yesterday, after the children had slept, finally releasing all her pent up stress. Women can be so tough when it comes to it. And my wife ... 🙏🏼. 🔸 @DelhiAirport must release the CCTV footage to the public domain so people can draw their own conclusions of the incident. 🔸 I hope that @DGCAIndia & @AirIndiaX will go beyond just suspension of the pilot.

Terrible incident at Delhi Airport where an @AirIndiaX pilot thrashed a passenger @ankitdewan. Victim on @ndtv to talk about it with @reetksahni & me: