Aviation Minister Raju says security won't be compromised

Union Minister for Civil Aviation Ashok Gajapathi Raju on Friday condemned the ruckus created by Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MP J. C. Diwakar Reddy and said the security of the people travelling is of utmost importance which will not be compromised at any cost.

"Security is of utmost importance in the airlines and it cannot be compromised," Raju said, who is also from the TDP.

Meanwhile, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha referred the incident as extremely 'unfortunate' and hoped that such incidents won't be repeated in future.

"For future, we are planning to bring no fly list. We hope that such incidents will not take place in future and if it will take place then we will tackle the issue as soon as possible," said Sinha.

Earlier in the day, Raju refuted reports that he helped Reddy from getting a boarding pass.

Terming the reports as 'false', the minister assured to find out the exact details behind the incident.

"This is false reporting. There was no such intervention as reported," Raju tweeted.

"I will get the entire incident at Vizag Airport enquired into to find out the exact details and ensure that lawful outcomes follow," he said.

Reddy has been barred by six major airlines, including Spicejet and IndiGo, after he had an altercation with IndiGo staffer over boarding pass.

He started creating ruckus inside the airport for denying a boarding pass. He reached the airport just 28 minutes before his flight was to take off.

However, he was later provided a boarding pass, reportedly with the help of Raju.

Reddy rebuffed the charges and denied misbehaving with any official of the IndiGo.

The TDP MP said there were a number of people standing at the counter when he reached the airport, who had not been granted the boarding pass.

But Indigo confirmed the reports of the ruckus and said that Reddy behaved aggressively with the staff.

Reportedly, Reddy had repeated this same behaviour in October last year at the Vijaywada Airport when he had arrived late to catch an Air India flight. He had resorted to vandalism and an argument.

-ANI