Stiff charges against fake hijacker

New Delhi: Claiming he "knew how to kill people", Jitender Mohala had asked for handcuffs from the cabin crew while creating a hijack scare aboard an IndiGo flight from Goa to Delhi in February this year.
In the chargesheet filed recently by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), the agency invoked stringent charges under section 3(1)(d), 3(2) of Suppression of Unlawful Act which carries a maximum punishment of life imprisonment, section 336, 503 and 506 of the IPC and section 3(2) and 4 of the anti-hijacking Act as amended.
The incident created a stir after Mohala's allegedly aggressive behaviour forced the pilot of IndiGo flight E644 to sound a hijack alert, leading to a scare and panic at the Delhi airport. The plane made an emergency landing and was kept in isolation for two-and-a-half hours.
Filing the chargesheet before district and sessions judge I S Mehta, the agency said Mohala told the cabin crew that he was an Indian Air Force officer of the rank of Air Commodore and was carrying needles and a gun.
When a passenger asked him if he was authorised to carry the stuff, Mohala said he did not require permission from anyone. He told passengers that he was the godfather of aviation services in India and he made all the rules of aviation, the chargesheet read. He said he was a Muslim who was involved in the Kandahar hijack scare and claimed that two people with him would take the charge of the aircraft, it added.
The 65-page chargesheet alleged that Mohala tried to harass the air-hostesses and female passengers. He also moved his hands towards the neck of Neha (air-hostess) in the name of explaining procedure to press a particular nerve to make anyone unconscious. He also brought a lady passenger to the row of the emergency door and sat by her side, it alleged.The agency alleged that he tried to endanger the life of an infant aboard.
21/05/09 Smriti Singh/Times of India

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Airports May 2009, Indigo Airlines May 2009, Safety May 2009