Fact-Check: 2017 Video of Indigo Staffers Assaulting Man Viral as Recent

The video dates back to October 2017, when Rajeev Katyal was assaulted by IndiGo staffers at Delhi's IGI airport.

The video of IndiGo staff members assaulting a man is six years old.

(Source: Facebook/Altered by The Quint)

A video showing airline attendants manhandling and misbehaving with an elderly man has gone viral on social media platforms, where users are sharing the video as one of a recent incident of IndiGo flight attendants doing so.

IndiGo was in the news recently after it placed a record-breaking order for 500 Airbus A320 family aircraft.

An archive of this post can be seen here.

(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

The claim is viral on Twitter and Facebook, and is also being shared on YouTube.

(Archives of more claims can be seen here, here and here.)

But...?: The incident is six years old.

• The video dates back to 15 October 2017, where a man identified as Rajiv Katyal was manhandled at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport by IndiGo staffers.

• The airline issued a statement regarding the incident mentioning that the person who shot the video had been fired and apologised for the passenger's ill-treatment.

How did we find out?: Using relevant keywords, we looked for news reports related to the viral video.

This led us to a report by India Today, which carried screenshots of the viral video and was published on 8 November 2017.

The article was published on 8 November 2017.

(Source: India Today/Altered by The Quint)

• The report identified the man as Rajeev Katyal, mentioning that the video showed a "heated scuffle" between Katyal and IndiGo staffers at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi.

• India Today mentioned that the altercation took place after Katyal reportedly took shade under at aeroplane's wing while waiting for a bus.

• It also carried a statement by IndiGo's former President Aditya Ghosh, where Ghosh said that employees involved had been "immediately suspended" during the investigation.

• The statement added that Ghosh had personally apologised to Katyal on a call "the very same day," and that the "main culprit" had been terminated.

• The airline's verified Twitter account had shared this statement while apologising to Katyal in another tweet.

What action did IndiGo take?:

• The airlines' statement added that Ghosh had personally apologised to Katyal on a call "the very same day" and that the "main culprit" had been terminated.

• According to an article by The News Minute, the incident took place on 15 October 2017, after which the then Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha sought a detailed report.

• Sinha had shared a series of tweets regarding the incident.

• TNM reported that the airline had fired the "whistleblower" – one Montu Kalra – who recorded the video.

Conclusion: The viral video of IndiGo staffers assaulting a man dates back to 15 October 2017 and is not a recent incident.

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