New Delhi: Jawaharlal Nehru University students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar today claimed that a BJP supporter tried to strangle him on a Jet Airways flight. He was on way to Pune this morning to to address an event in the city.
In a series of Tweets, Kumar also alleged that the Jet Airways staff refused to take any action against the accused after the incident.
The carrier, Jet Airways, later said some passengers on board this morning's flight Mumbai to Pune were off loaded at Mumbai airport in interest of operational safety.
"At Jet Airways, the safety and security of our guests and crew is always of prime importance," a communique from the airline said.
Meanwhile, The police has detained one person at Mumbai domestic airport in connection with the attack.
However, An initial probe carried by police revealed that it was not a case of assault but the two pushed each other over a petty argument.
“From the preliminary inquiry we have learnt that the co passenger had a window seat and while taking the seat he bumped into Kanhaiya. They pushed each other. But there was nothing like an assault or a fight. But we can ascertain anything only after they come out and we record statements of flight crew and the two involved in the incident,” a police official from Sahar police told Hindustan Times.
Previously, the JNUSU president was also attacked at an event in Hyderabad, where an activist had hurled shoe at him. Kumar was arrested on February 9 on charges of sedition for organizing a pro-Afzal Guru event on JNU campus. The event was organised to deliberate over the issue of capital punishment.
He, along with a group of teachers from JNU, students and reporters, were attacked by a group of lawyers inside the premises of a Delhi court after the arrest.
His arrest kicked off a furore across the nation, with varied views on nationalism pouring in from different sections of the society. The intelligentsia along with the students of varied university collectively protested the government's take on the issue.
