The man who went missing after being slapped during a panic attack on a flight has been located at a railway station in Barpeta, Assam — nearly 800 km from Kolkata, where his flight had landed, and around 400 km from Silchar, his intended destination.
Hussain Ahmed Majumdar, 32, a resident of Cachar district in Assam — with Silchar as its headquarters — had boarded IndiGo flight 6E-138 from Mumbai to Kolkata on Thursday. He was scheduled to catch a connecting flight to Silchar the next day.
During the Mumbai-Kolkata leg of the journey, Majumdar reportedly suffered a panic attack mid-air and was being assisted by the airline crew when fellow passenger Hafijul Rahman assaulted him. A video of the incident shows Mr Majumdar being helped down the aisle by airhostesses when Rahman suddenly slapped him. When questioned, Rahman justified the act by saying Majumdar was “causing problems.”
Following the plane’s landing in Kolkata, Rahman was detained by the authorities and handed over to the police. However, he was later released. Majumdar also left the airport but failed to board his next flight to Silchar, leading to confusion and concern among his family members.
Majumdar, who works at a hotel in Mumbai and is familiar with the Mumbai-Silchar route, had flown it several times before. His family was unaware of the in-flight incident until they saw the viral video online. They had reached Silchar airport to receive him on Friday, only to discover he had not arrived. Attempts to reach him failed, as his phone had been switched off.
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His father, Abdul Mannan Majumdar, said the family became worried after seeing the video and subsequently filed a missing person complaint. Investigations revealed that Hussain had neither boarded the Silchar-bound flight on Friday nor taken any other flight from Kolkata on Saturday.
Eventually, police received a tip-off that Majumdar had been seen at Barpeta railway station. He was found there and, according to officials, appeared to be in poor health. He is now being taken back home. Meanwhile, IndiGo has taken action against the passenger who attacked Majumdar. In a statement, the airline announced that Hafijul Rahman has been banned from flying with them.
"The safety and well-being of our customers and crew remain our foremost priority. In line with our commitment to discourage such unruly behaviour onboard flights, the individual has been suspended from flying on any IndiGo flights, in accordance with regulatory provisions," IndiGo stated.
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