Kamalraj Dev, a resident of Thane, has complained that he found a baby cockroach in the sandwich served to him aboard Air India flight from Chandigarh to Mumbai on Monday, reports Mumbai Mirror.
Dev, the CEO of Symbiosis Group of Schools in Thane district, recalls, "On Monday I took the 2.50 pm flight (IC 863) from Chandigarh. After around 30 minutes the cabin crew served snacks - cheese sandwich, a cake and cookies. As I bit into the sandwich, I realized there was a cockroach in it."
He added, "After spotting the insect in my food I could not bring myself to finish the snack. I felt nauseated after I realized that I had swallowed a little bit of the sandwich and wondered what all I had actually consumed… This could have affected my health."
Dev brought this to the notice of the cabin crew and said they were apologetic. They also handed over a complaint form which he filled.
"On arrival in Delhi, two representatives of the airline's caterers TajSats came on board. They checked the snack box and demanded that I hand it over to them, which I refused."
"The food tray was covered with silver foil and even the sandwich was wrapped in plastic. On arrival in Mumbai, I met the airline's duty manager, wrote down a complaint and handed over the half-eaten snack to him,'' he said. Dev said he would approach the court for compensation.
However, he doesn't plan to let the matter rest. "This is negligent behaviour on part of the catering service. I will approach the court for compensation.''
An Air India spokesperson confirmed receiving Dev's complaint. "We have taken up the matter with TajSats - the catering agency - and we will take action against them. We hired reputed caterers and were let down."
A Taj spokesperson said, "The sample handed over to us has been examined in our laboratory and is not an insect." Sources added that the suspicious particle was possibly a bit of burnt bread.
