The man who was slapped by a fellow passenger after suffering a panic attack mid-flight and then went missing has been found at a railway station in Assam’s Barpeta, nearly 800 km from Kolkata, where the plane had landed, and 400 km from Silchar, which was supposed to be his destination.
Hussain Ahmed Majumdar, 32, from Cachar district in Assam, of which Silchar is the headquarters, had boarded a flight from Mumbai to Kolkata on Thursday and was supposed to take another flight from there to Silchar the next day.
Mr Majumdar, 32, was on IndiGo flight 6E-138 from Mumbai to Silchar when he had a panic attack and was being helped by airhostesses. He was being taken down the aisle when a fellow passenger Hafijul Rahman slapped him. In a video, Mr Rahman can be seen assaulting Mr Majumdar and, when confronted, says he did so because he was causing him “problems”.
After the flight reached Kolkata, Mr Rahman was detained and handed over to the police, but was released later. Mr Majumdar also left the airport.
The 32-year-old, who works at a hotel in Mumbai, had flown the route several times before and his family, unaware that anything had happened, reached the Silchar airport to receive him on Friday.
They tried to contact him after watching the viral video but his cellphone was switched off, said his father, Abdul Mannan Majumdar.
A missing complaint was filed and investigation revealed that Mr Majumdar had not boarded the flight to Silchar on Friday and had not flown out from the Kolkata airport on Saturday either. The police then received information that he was at the Barpeta railway station and found him there. An official said he appeared unwell and is now being taken home.
IndiGo has, meanwhile, banned the attacker, Mr Rahman, from flying on any plane operated by the airline.
“The safety and well-being of our customers and crew remain our foremost priority. In line with our commitment to discourage such unruly behaviour onboard flights, the individual has been suspended from flying on any IndiGo flights, in accordance with regulatory provisions,” IndiGo said in a statement.
