A 56-year-old man was detained on Tuesday for smoking a beedi inside a plane. The arrested has been recognized as Praveen Kumar, a resident of Pali district in Rajasthan.
Smoking ‘Beedi’ Mid-Air
M Praveen Kumar, 56, was detained while landing at Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) on Tuesday afternoon. The arrest was made because he endangered the lives of other passengers aboard Akasa Air’s journey from Ahmedabad to Bengaluru by smoking a beedi.
Kumar, a resident of Marwar junction in Rajasthan’s Pali district, has been detained at Bengaluru Central Jail. He has been charged with violating IPC Section 336 (endangering the life or personal safety of others) as well as the Aircraft Rules.
Kumar, who is a laborer who moved to Bengaluru to find a job, smoked a beedi inside the toilet aboard Akasa Air’s aircraft QP 1326 (Ahmedabad-Bengaluru) at about 1.10 p.m., according to a complaint made by Vijay Thulluru, a duty manager at SNV Aviation Private Limited. He was also discovered with a pack of beedi.
Kumar was promptly restrained by the flight crew, and the flight captain declared him a disruptive passenger. When the plane touched down in the city, the crew handed him over to security.
Detained by Police
This is the first time someone has been arrested at KIA for smoking a beedi. Earlier this year, two passengers were arrested by KIA police for smoking cigarettes inside the plane.
A senior police officer stressed the need of detecting cigarettes during security checks. “Cigarettes are easily detectable. The only explanation for such an incident is a failure in the frisking process,” the officer stated. In the previous two cases, the accused were fully aware of the rigorous no-smoking ban on airplanes, yet they were found smoking. According to an investigating officer, Kumar, a first-time traveler, claimed to be unaware of the no-smoking regulation.
“Kumar is a laborer from Marwar. He was accompanying an elderly person who was traveling to the city for a post-death ceremony of a relative,” the officer explained. “Since I regularly travel by train and smoke inside the toilet, I thought I could do the same on the flight and decided to smoke a beedi,” Kumar confessed to the police. Quoted Times Now.
According to a senior police official, once detained, the accused must spend at least one week in court custody. “Smoking in midair poses a risk to everyone,” the officer emphasized.
