Congress claims Pawan Khera deplaned from Raipur flight, stages dharna on tarmac

The Congress on Thursday claimed its leader Pawan Khera was deplaned from a flight to Raipur, where he was going to attend the party's plenary session. Several party leaders got off the plane after Khera was deboarded and staged a dharna on the tarmac.

As drama escalated at terminal one of the domestic airport here, flight staff told Congress leaders there was confusion with Khera's bags. They said police was on its way and would explain the reason to him.

Several Congress leaders raised slogans against the government while on the tarmac.

Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala said, "Today we were going for the Congress Plenary Sessoin to Raipur, and our colleague Pawan Khera was told that he left his luggage but he was not carrying any luggage. Then the Police came and said Assam Police has registered an FIR. We asked them to show an arrest warrant but they did not show any order. It is completely illegal. Assam and Delhi Police have stopped our flight forcefully."

"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.

In a statement, IndiGo said, "A passenger was deplaned by the police at the Delhi airport from a Raipur-bound flight. Some other passengers also decided to deboard on their own accord. We are following the advice of the concerned authorities. The flight is delayed as of now."