‘Touch my bag, I’ll crash the flight’: Bengaluru doctor’s threat on Air India Express delays flight

Two unrelated incidents of passenger misconduct at Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) on June 17 led to police action against a doctor and a private firm employee.

In one of the more alarming cases, a 36-year-old Ayurvedic doctor, Vyas Hiral Mohanbhai from Shivanahalli near Yelahanka, was removed from an Air India Express flight to Surat after she refused to follow cabin crew instructions and allegedly threatened to crash the plane.

The trouble began when Mohanbhai boarded the aircraft carrying two bags, bypassing the check-in counter. She placed one bag in a restricted area near the crew cabin and demanded that the staff carry it to her seat (20F). When they asked her to move it herself, she became aggressive. Her loud refusals and verbal abuse alarmed the crew and fellow passengers.

Matters escalated when she reportedly shouted threats to crash the flight if the crew touched her bag. The pilot, after being alerted by the cabin crew, called for CISF intervention. Security personnel entered the aircraft and escorted the doctor off the plane, resulting in a flight delay of nearly two hours.

After being taken to the airport police station, she allegedly continued her aggressive behaviour, hurling abuses and reportedly even manhandling officers.

Following the incident, police began verifying Mohanbhai’s background. Her husband informed authorities that she had stopped practising medicine and was travelling to Gujarat to visit her family. He also mentioned that she had caused disturbances in public before. Her conduct is now under investigation.

Mohanbhai has been charged under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) related to criminal intimidation and public mischief, along with provisions from the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against Safety of Civil Aviation Act.

Gate scuffle ends in legal trouble for Srinagar youth

On the same day, 22-year-old Sadaad Mohammad Baba from Srinagar attempted to force his way through Departure Gate 8 at Terminal 1 without clearance. When CISF personnel tried to stop him, he allegedly shoved them, sparking a commotion.

Baba was promptly detained and booked under BNS sections related to assault on public servants, obstructing officials from performing their duties, and criminal trespass.