Air India 'urinating' row: Delhi cops in Mumbai in search of accused, sacked from job

US Financial Services Company Wells Fargo on Friday said it has sacked Shankar Mishra, who allegedly urinated on a female co-passenger on an Air India flight, saying that the allegations were deeply disturbing.

Mumbai/New Delhi: A team of Delhi police on Friday landed in Mumbai in search of a man, who allegedly urinated on his female co-passenger on an Air India (AI) flight on November 26, 2022, but found his home locked, an official said. An FIR has been registered against him based on the complaint lodged by the victim to the Tata group-owned airline.

The accused has been identified as Shankar Mishra, a resident of Mumbai. He is the vice-president of the India Chapter of an American Multinational Financial Services firm headquartered in California and is currently absconding, police said. Following this, the US Financial Services Company Wells Fargo on Friday said it has sacked Shankar Mishra saying that the allegations were deeply disturbing.

The Delhi police team reached the Nehru Nagar police station in the suburbs and made an entry into the station diary informing authorities there that they had come in search of Mishra, said a Mumbai police officer. The official said the Mumbai police will help their Delhi counterparts as and when their assistance is sought.

The accused, allegedly in an inebriated condition, urinated on his co-passenger, a senior citizen in her seventies, in the business class of the Air India New York-Delhi flight. According to the FIR, shortly after lunch was served and the lights were switched off onboard AI 102 on November 26, 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 Tata group-owned airline on Wednesday said it has imposed a 30-day travel ban on the man and instituted an internal probe to find if there were lapses in handling the situation by the crew. Meanwhile, Delhi Commission for Women​​ Chairperson Swati Maliwal has issued a notice in cases of harassment and misbehaviour by passengers on Air India flights.

The Commission has taken suo moto cognisance of the media reports of two cases in two Air India flights recently. One is the above incident and the other incident took place on December 6, 2022, where a drunk man urinated on the seat of his fellow female passenger on an Air India flight from Paris to New Delhi.

"These incidents are disgusting and shameful and raise serious questions on the safety of women passengers in flights. The surprising thing is that till now the culprits have not been arrested. There has hardly been any action taken by the flight authorities in the matter, which smacks of maliciousness and lack of empathy. The commission will hold DGCA, Air India, and Delhi Police accountable and seek action in the matter," said Swati Maliwal.