Congress' Pawan Khera arrested at Delhi Airport after being deplaned; party says 'undemocratic'

Key Highlights

• Pawan Khera was arrested by Assam cops at the Delhi airport on Thursday
• Khera was stopped from flying out of Delhi and was asked to get down from a Raipur-bound IndiGo 6E 204 flight
• A case has been registered at Haflong police station in Assam against Khera under various sections of the IPC for his alleged remarks against the prime minister

Congress leader Pawan Khera was arrested by Assam cops at the Delhi airport on Thursday soon after being deboarded from a flight to Chhattisgarh capital Raipur.

On Thursday, Khera was stopped from flying out of Delhi and was asked to get down from a Raipur-bound IndiGo 6E 204 flight. Following this, Congress leaders sat on a dharna at the tarmac and did not allow him to be taken away without an arrest warrant.

A case has been registered at Haflong police station in Assam against Khera under various sections of the IPC for his alleged remarks against the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, PTI reported.

The Congress party on Thursday termed Khera's arrest as "undemocratic".

"Today, our senior leaders were travelling from Delhi to Raipur on an Indigo flight. They had all boarded the flight when our leader @Pawankhera Ji was asked to disembark from it and later arrested. This is undemocratic. We vehemently oppose this dictatorial behaviour," the party tweeted.

The airline also issued a statement on the incident and confirmed that the passenger was deplaned by the police at the Delhi airport.

"A passenger was deplaned by the police at the Delhi airport from Raipur-bound flight 6E 204. Some other passengers have also decided to deboard on their own accord. We are following the advice of the concerned authorities. The flight is delayed as of now and we regret the inconvenience caused to other passengers," the airline said in a statement.

Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate, who was also on the flight took to Twitter to question the action.

"We are all on the @IndiGo6E flight 6E 204 to Raipur and all of a sudden my colleague @Pawankhera has been asked to deplane," Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said.

"What sort of high handedness is this? Is there any rule of law? On what grounds is this being done and under whose order?" she said.

"Freedom of Speech is slowly weakening in India, but Freedom AFTER Speech is fast becoming extinct. My colleague @Pawankhera was deplaned from a Raipur-bound flight. After ED raids, another attempt to derail Congress Plenary. Murder of Democratic India is the right acronym for Him," said Jairam Ramesh.

To be noted, the Enforcement Directorate on Monday conducted searches at multiple locations in Chhattisgarh, including premises linked to Congress leaders, as part of an ongoing investigation into the coal levy money laundering case, officials said.

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