Bangalore firm CEO says he was called 2 hrs early for 5-min security check, mistreated when he protested
Bangalore firm CEO says he was called 2 hrs early for 5-min security check, mistreated when he protested
The CEO of a Bangalore-based company was arrested yesterday by the airport police for allegedly manhandling security personnel and staffers of Kingfisher airlines.
Chris Thomas, CEO of Bangalore-based Mitcon Technologies, arrived in the city at 1.30 pm. According to Thomas, he was supposed to fly back to Bangalore by a Kingfisher Airlines flight at 6.00 pm. He said he received an SMS from the airline stating he would have to report two hours early as security checks had been tightened in view of the recent bomb blast in the city.
Flyer's grouse
Speaking exclusively to MiD DAY, Thomas recalled the chain of events that began with his security check.
"They took hardly five minutes for the check, so I got angry. I had left important work and come early, but their heightened security was a sham. I started arguing with the airport officials that they could have done this later, why inconvenience us, and that's when I saw some people with sten guns approaching me," said Thomas.
According to Thomas, officials of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) came straight for him and caught hold of his neck. "I told them they had no right to touch me. At that point, a CISF man yanked at my shirt, breaking the buttons and dragged me on to the floor. The airport has surveillance cameras, it'll all be recorded," added Thomas.
He said he was then taken to a police station and questioned for an hour-and-half before he was let off. "After my ordeal, I reported back to the Kingfisher counter 15 minutes before my flight, but was refused a boarding pass. They again called the CISF, who arrested me and again dragged me away; they even took my phone away."
Thomas was later produced before a judicial magistrate's court and let off on a cash deposit of Rs 15,000.
'He was drunk'
According to airport director Captain Deepak Shastri, Thomas was not in his "right senses."
"The airlines asked me to call the police so I took action," said Shastri.
A complaint filed by Ashish Kumar Mitra, CISF police inspector at Viman Tal police station, said Thomas was abusive and manhandled police personnel. The complaint said Thomas was angry over having to report early and had started hitting the airline staffers first. Police station officials said Thomas was intoxicated.
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