IndiGo has imposed a flying ban for specific periods on Kerala's ruling Left Democratic Front's convenor E P Jayarajan and two Youth Congress workers for their involvement in a scuffle on board the aircraft that was also carrying state Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan last month.
While an official communication from Indigo airlines is still awaited, sources at the Thiruvananthapuram airport confirmed it.
Jayarajan reacted that there was no justification for the decision and added he or his family members would not travel on Indigo flights anymore. He also said that the airlines indeed failed to prevent an attack on the Chief Minister. He also alleged that the airline was aware of the Youth Congress activists traveling in the aircraft.
It was on June 13 that Youth Congress Kannur district secretary Naveen Kumar and a block president, Farzin Majeed, shouted slogans against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inside an Indigo flight from Kannur to Thiruvananthapuram after the flight landed in Thiruvananthapuram.
Jayrajan, who was also on the flight, pushed aside the two and both of them fell down. Subsequently, Indigo airlines instituted a probe into the incident.
Meanwhile, the state police had also registered a case against the two Youth Congress activists in connection with the incident. They were even accused of hatching conspiracy with the connivance of senior leaders to endanger the Chief Minister's life. The police summoned Youth Congress state leader and former MLA K S Sabarinadhan for quizzing in this connection.
The protest against the Chief Minister was in connection with the allegations raised against him by gold smuggling accused Swapna Suresh.