New Delhi, Feb 23, 2023: Congress leader Pawan Khera was allegedly deplaned from his IndiGo airlines flight to Chhattisgarh’s Raipur, the party claimed on Thursday. Khera was accompanied by several other congress leaders as they were headed to party’s plenary session. The leaders also got off the plane after Khera was deboarded. Khera was deplaned at Delhi airport’s terminal 1.
Congress has also alleged that Pawan Khera has been detained by the Assam Police. Leader Supriya Shrinate tweeted the video of the leader getting detained and wrote, “Assam Police is arresting Pawan Kheda ji and taking him away. What crime has he committed that he has been arrested? If this is not dictatorship then what is?"
Modi govt is acting like a bunch of goons by deplaning @Pawankhera ji from the Delhi-Raipur flight and preventing him from joining the AICC Plenary.
— K C Venugopal (@kcvenugopalmp) February 23, 2023
Using a flimsy FIR to restrict his movement & silence him is a shameful, unacceptable act. The entire party stands with Pawan ji. pic.twitter.com/mKVeuRGnfR
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a plea by Pawan Khera seeking consolidation of all FIRs against him. The plea was mentioned by senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi. Khera has also sought protection in light of his arrest by Assam Police, after which, all Congress leaders staged a protest on the tarmac.
Assam Police IGP Prasanta Kumar Bhuyan confirmed a team of Assam police left for Delhi to take remand of Pawan Khera in connection with a case filed against him at Haflong police station in Assam’s Dima Hasao district.
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 pic.twitter.com/11LXuDSOQO
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) February 23, 2023
According to reports, Delhi Police was contacted by Assam Police on Wednesday night and based on its request, Khera was detained from the Delhi airport. He will most likely be taken to Guwahati.
Senior Delhi Police officials later handed over a document from Assam Police seeking their help in the detention of Khera. Congress leader Randeep Surjewala accompanied Khera to a police station at the airport where there was a huge deployment of CISF.
As Pawan Khera was taken out of the Delhi airport by Assam Police, he interacted with the media and said, “We will see (in which case they are taking me). It’s a long battle and I’m ready to fight."
In a video statement shared by Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Twitter, Khera said he was told there was confusion with his bags and the police were on the way to explain the reason to him.
Sharing the video, Ramesh wrote, “Freedom of Speech is slowly weakening in India, but Freedom AFTER Speech is fast becoming extinct. After ED raids, this is another attempt to derail Congress Plenary. Murder of Democratic India is the right acronym."
Several Congress leaders raised slogans against the government while on the tarmac. “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, who was also on the flight, said on Twitter.
“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. The flight was delayed.
Indigo Airlines later released a statement on the matter saying, “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."
Congress leader Randeep Surjewala was also with Pawan Khera during the incident. The flight was subsequently delayed, for which the airlines apologized.
All the passengers on the Delhi-Raipur flight were asked to deboard and were shifted to another flight, following the incident.