Police to Quiz Kerala Strikers, Airline Staff Over Mid-Air Ruckus; AMMA to Seek Explanation from Team Management

The Kerala Strikers' team members, who were forced to disembark a Hyderabad-bound flight due to alleged misbehaviour, and the airlines staff members will be quizzed by police in connection with the incident.

On Friday (21 February), 30 members of Kerala Strikers team had boarded Hyderabad bound Indigo Airlines flight 6E-314 as they had to take part in the semi final match of the Celebrity Cricket League (CCL 4). However, the members were deplaned following a complaint by an airline crew member that some of them allegedly misbehaved in the flight.

In the wake of the incident, the pilot abandoned the take off, after which the Kerala Strikers' team members were forced to disembark from the plane. A spokesperson for the airlines had said that the team members caused disruption to other passengers in the flight by clapping and laughing while the airline crew was delivering safety instructions.

However, the team's manager Edavela Babu had denied any alleged misbehaviour by the members and filed a complaint with the Nedumbassery police insisting that they haven't done anything wrong and were wrongly removed from the plane. The IndiGo Airlines officials have also filed a report to the police in connection with the incident.

The cops have decided to question both the Kerala Strikers' team members and the Airlines staff. "The complaint given by the Kerala Strikers team and the intimation report filed by the IndiGo officials do not contain materials which merit registering of a case. Hence, we have decided to question people on both sides, based on which we will decide whether a case should be registered," Satheesh Bino, Ernakulam rural district police chief, told The Times of India.

Meanwhile, the Association of Malayalam Movie Actors (AMMA) has informed that they will also be seeking an explanation from the Kerala Strikers' team management regarding the incident on the plane. AMMA President Innocent told The New Indian Express that proper action would be taken against its members if they are found guilty. He also said that the association will not hesitate to take legal action against the airline crew if they were also responsible for the ruckus created on board the plane.