Air India pee-gate: How Delhi police laid trap on Shankar Mishra

New Delhi/Bengaluru: Delhi Police on Saturday arrested from Bengaluru the man who allegedly urinated on a woman co-passenger on an Air India flight, officials said.

The accused, Shankar Mishra, was traced to Bengaluru through technical surveillance, they said.

Mishra allegedly urinated on the woman, a senior citizen, in an inebriated condition in the business class of the Air India flight from New York to Delhi on November 26 last year.

Delhi Police had registered an FIR against him on January 4 on a complaint given by the woman to Air India.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Airport) Ravi Kumar Singh said, "Accused Shankar Mishra in IGIA case has been arrested from Bengaluru by a Delhi Police team. He has been brought to Delhi and further investigation into the case is in progress." The accused was staying at his sister's house in Sanjay Nagar, Bengaluru. The city police assisted the Delhi Police team in arresting him, a Bengaluru police official said.

Mishra had switched off his mobile phone on January 3 and his last location was traced to Bengaluru, Delhi Police officials said.

He used to take a taxi to travel in Bengaluru. His travel history was extracted and the route he used to take to reach his office was followed, they said.

Late on Friday night, Mishra's location was traced to Mysuru. By the time the Delhi Police team reached there, he had alighted from the taxi. The taxi driver was questioned, which yielded some leads, they said.

Mishra often stayed at the place from where he was arrested, the police said.

According to the FIR, shortly after lunch was served and the lights were switched off onboard AI 102 on November 26, 2022, the inebriated male passenger seated in business class seat 8A walked to the elderly woman's seat, unzipped his pants and urinated on her.

The case has been filed under sections 294 (obscene act in public place), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) and 510 (misconduct in public by a drunken person) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) as well as under Aircraft Rules.

According to the FIR, the accused begged the woman not to lodge a complaint against him, saying he was a family man and did not wish his wife and child to be affected by the incident.

The Delhi Police has asked Air India staff, including the pilot and co-pilot of the New York-Delhi flight, to appear before it on Saturday, sources had said.

Summons were issued to the staff for Friday but they did not appear before the police, they said.

A lookout circular had been issued against Mishra to prevent him from fleeing the country.

Mishra, who was working with US multinational firm Wells Fargo in India, was sacked on Friday.

Tata Group-owned Air India CEO Campbell Wilson on Saturday apologised for the incident and said four cabin crew and a pilot have been de-rostered and the airline is reviewing its "policy on service of alcohol in flight".