3 men arrested for assaulting immigration officials at Sahar Airport

On Tuesday, Sahar Police arrested three men for assaulting two immigration officials at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport.

The accused, brothers Amit Sawant (30) and Deepak Sawant (27) with Rajesh Killa (45), were protesting near the Air India counter after their Mumbai-Delhi flight was delayed on Tuesday morning. The brothers are Thane residents, while Killa hails from Gujarat.

The accused, along with other passengers, were protesting because they were reportedly frustrated over the fact that the airline did not provide them any information pertaining to why the flight was delayed and how much more time it would take.

“Since the AI counter is situated right next to the immigration desk, Mukeshkumar Jain tried to reason with them and bring the crowd under control. But passengers took their frustration out on him and assaulted Jain. Later, when Jain’s colleague Hemant Badhe tried to intervene, they assaulted him as well,” said an official from Sahar police station.

Despite the fact that the immigration officials had come to the rescue of AI staff, no one from their team volunteered to file a complaint. In the end, Badhe himself filed a police complaint which read, “Jain asked the protesting flyers to clear the passage near the immigration check and its office which is near the AI counter. Some of them were clicking pictures on their mobile phones of the protest and the assault. When Jain asked them to clear the area, they charged at him. When I went to pacify them, they charged at me too.”

The accused were handed over the police and booked under sections 34 (common intention) and 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) of the Indian Penal Code. All three were later granted bail by a local court.