Man accused of creating IndiGo flight ruckus sent to jail

A man, who was arrested for allegedly creating a ruckus on board an IndiGo flight from Mumbai to Delhi, was today sent to jail for a day by a Delhi court which was told that he was "mentally unstable".

Metropolitan Magistrate Pankaj Sharma sent Mursalin Sheikh to Tihar jail till tomorrow and directed police to verify the address of a person who volunteered to stand as a surety to the accused if he gets bail.

The court would pronounce its judgement tomorrow on the bail plea of Sheikh whose counsel submitted he deserved the relief as he was mentally unstable and medical records, provided by his family, showed this.

Sheikh, 41, who hails from Mumbai, had boarded the IndiGo flight (6E196) on Wednesday from Mumbai and later allegedly turned violent, assaulted the crew, and threatened to take the plane down.

The accused had also refused to listen to air hostesses and even tried to storm the cockpit, police said.

A case of assault, outraging the modesty of a woman and criminal intimidation has been registered against him.

During the hearing, the counsel for Sheikh also said he was not a "flight risk" as he is a permanent native of Mumbai.

Sheikh, who deals in second-hand cars, has been booked for offences which allows bail, the lawyer said.

The plane, which had taken off from Mumbai at 3:15 pm on November 7, was airborne for about an hour when Sheikh got agitated and began to talk threateningly, police said.

He also tried to move forward in the plane but was restrained by the crew and fellow passengers till the aircraft landed at the IGI airport here, they said.

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_man-accused-of-creating-indigo-flight-ruckus-sent-to-jail_1762162