A 30-member group of film and TV actors, part of Mohanlal-owned Kerala Strikers team which is participating in the ongoing Celebrity Cricket League, was forced to disembark from a Hyderabad-bound flight for alleged misbehaviour.
According to Indigo Airlines, from which the actors were offloaded, the 6E-314 flight from Kochi to Hyderabad, scheduled to depart at 1300 hours, had to abort the take-off and was taken on the bay as some passengers started misbehaving with the crew.
As a result, the Captain had to request the security staff to offload the 30 passengers, along with their baggage, the airlines said in a statement.
"Initially the passengers, resisted but eventually had to deplane as the other passengers on board requested for the same. We are facilitating the rebooking process for these passengers on the next available flight," it said.
The flight took off from Kochi at 1433 hrs and landed at Hyderabad at 1544 hrs.
"Customer satisfaction is core to our business; however, any untoward conduct, which compromises on the security of our crew and passengers is of serious concern to us. We regret the inconvenience caused to other passengers, and hope to provide the best hassle free travel experience on board IndiGo," the airlines said.
Following the complaint of the crew, the Pilot ordered that the team should be deplaned and only after which the flight would take off, airport sources said.
In the wake of the incident, all the team members, including actor Bineesh Kodiyeri, son of CPI(M) Politburo member Kodieryi Balakrishnan, were asked to disembark.
The team was on its way to Hyderabad to participate in the first semi-finals against Bhojpuri Dabangs tomorrow.
The team is owned by Malayalam superstar Mohanlal and Lissy, wife of ace Bollywood director Priyadarshan.
Meanwhile, actor Edavela Babu, who was also in the flight, filed a complaint to Nedumbassery police stating that they had been wrongfully removed from the flight and they had not done anything wrong.
Indigo Airlines also filed a complaint with the police stating that the actors stood up and created commotion due to which they had to abort their flight.
