There was commotion on an IndiGo flight soon after Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera was deboarded this morning.
Congress leaders were seen arguing with airline officials, questioning why their party leader was taken off the flight despite his boarding pass.
"What is the reason?" senior Congress leader KC Venugopal questioned, standing near the entrance of the plane.
Another Congress leader said: "He's our leader. He's the general secretary, Member of Parliament. How can you do this after giving him a boarding pass? He's a national spokesperson."
Mr Venugopal said: "If there was a valid reason there would be no problem."
Soon after, Mr Venugopal and other Congress leaders left the plane and sat down on the tarmac, shouting slogans and refusing to let the flight leave.
Mr Khera was taken to the airport lounge and told that the police would "meet him" with an FIR (First Information Report). The police had come without an FIR or arrest warrant or production warrant, Congress leader Randeep Surjewala said.
AdvertisementAn Assam Police team arrested him around two hours later, producing an arrest warrant, as the party had demanded.
"I have no idea why I am being stopped. We will see (why they are taking me). It's a long battle and I'm ready to fight," said Mr Khera as he was whisked away by the police.
AdvertisementCongress leader Supriya Srinate shared a video of Mr Khera being taken away in a police car. "What is his crime? What is this if not dictatorship? For a slip of tongue he is being arrested? And he corrected himself," she said.
Mr Khera has been charged for allegedly "insulting" Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a recent press conference. The spokesperson fumbled with PM Modi's name while demanding a joint parliamentary probe into the Adani-Hindenburg row. "If Narasimha Rao could form a JPC (Joint Parliamentary Committee), if Atal Bihari Vajpayee could form a JPC, then what problem does Narendra Gautam Das...sorry Damodardas...Modi have?" he said.
AdvertisementThe BJP said it was a deliberate insult to the PM.
