India orders probe after passenger offloaded by private airline over mosquitoes

NEW DELHI, April 10 (Xinhua) -- India's Civil Aviation Ministry on Tuesday ordered a probe after a passenger was allegedly offloaded by a private airline for complaining of mosquitoes on board its flight at an airport in northern state of Uttar Pradesh's capital Lucknow.

"I have ordered an enquiry into the incident of off-loading passenger Dr Saurabh Rai by Indigo (private airline) at Lucknow Airport," Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu tweeted.

Dr Rai was scheduled to fly on IndiGo flight from Lucknow to the southern city of Bengaluru Monday, but he alleged the airline staff offloaded him from the aircraft after he complained of mosquitoes on board.

"The Indigo flight from Lucknow to Bengaluru was full of mosquitoes when I raised objection. I was manhandled by the crew and offloaded from the aircraft. I was even threatened," he said.

However, the airline has refuted the allegations and instead accused the passenger of getting aggressive. "A passenger, Saurabh Rai, scheduled to fly this morning from Lucknow to Bengaluru, was offloaded on grounds of unruly behaviour," it said in a statement.

IndiGo is India's largest private airline. Enditem