Cricketer Mayank Agarwal drinks poisonous liquid in IndiGo flight

Agartala: Out-of-favour India opener and current Karnataka skipper Mayank Agarwal was rushed to a local hospital after falling ill just before his New Delhi-bound flight was about to take off, an incident that shocked cricket fraternity as the player lodged an official police complaint alleging foul-play.

He is believed to be out of danger after drinking liquid from a pouch, which he thought was water and was kept on his seat as he was on board with IndiGo airlines.

In fact, Agarwal lodged a formal complaint with the police through his manager.

"Mayank Agarwal, an international cricket player. Now he is stable and his vitals are normal. But his manager has lodged a specific complaint under NCCPS (New Capital Complex Police Station) to investigate the matter," SP West Tripura Kiran Kumar told PTI here.

Asked about details, the top cop also said: "His manager said that when he was sitting in the aeroplane, there was a pouch in front of him. He drank a little bit not much but suddenly there was irritation in his mouth and suddenly he couldn't talk also and was brought to ILS hospital. He had swelling and ulcers in the mouth. Otherwise his vitals are stable."

State health secretary Kiran Gitte added: "Police has admitted his complaint and we will investigate as to what happened. As per his manager, he will travel tomorrow to Bengaluru and meanwhile whatever best treatment is available in Agartala, we will provide him."

On behalf of ILS Hospital, manager, Business Development Manoj Kumar Debnath issued a press release, stating that the cricketer was "experiencing some oral irritation and swelling on his lips."

"After being assessed by the consultants of the hospital in emergency, he was admitted. For now, he is clinically stable and is being constantly clinically monitored." Agarwal, who has played 21 Tests for India, led Karnataka to a 29-run win against Tripura on Monday.

"He (Agarwal) is not in any kind of danger. He is under observation currently in a hospital at Agartala, and we will fly him back to Bengaluru once we get an update from the doctors, which we are expecting tonight," a Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) official told PTI on condition of anonymity.

However, Agarwal will not play the next Ranji Trophy game against Railways in Surat.

"He will not be playing in Karnataka's next match (against Railways at Surat from February 2). But other than that, there is no truth in any rumours going around. He is stable now, and we are in touch with doctors and other state officials," the official said.

Nikin Jose is expected to take over the team's captaincy in the next match as he is the designated vice-captain.

IndiGo issued a statement, which didn't elaborate the reason for a medical emergency.

"IndiGo flight 6E 5177 operating from Agartala to Delhi returned to origin due to a medical emergency onboard. The passenger was off-loaded and was rushed to the hospital for further medical assistance. The aircraft took off again for its destination at 1620h," the airline said in its press release.

Agarwal, who scored 51 and 17 in the last game, was supposed to travel with the whole team to Surat via Delhi, when the incident happened. Karnataka are playing Railways in Surat in their next match.

"The team was on flight and apparently Agarwal started feeling uneasy and vomited a couple of times sitting on the flight. Since he started feeling sick, he de-boarded.

"From KSCA MR Shahvir Tarapore called and we quickly sent two of our representatives to the ILS hospital. He is under observation and we are told doctors are running some tests. Now there are multiple theories as to what he might have consumed," a Tripura Cricket Association official said on the condition of anonymity.

He will fly back to Bengaluru the moment he is in a position to travel.

Multiple sources said that Agarwal probably mistook some other transparent liquid as water and drank it, after which he started feeling uneasy.