BENGALURU: A week after having mysteriously gone missing from Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) from where he was to take a flight to Jaipur on July 10 to reach his native Debra village in Ajmer district of Rajasthan, 40-year-old tile factory labourer in Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh, Brijpal Ghoushia, was found at 2 am on Tuesday, huddled in a corner of a bus shelter in Kannamangala village. The village is 10 km from KIA, located on the west side of Bellary Road, across from the Trumpet Junction.
Two night beat constables of the Airport police who were on patrol in Kannamangala found Brijpal and reported to their police station that it was indeed the missing air passenger, much to the relief of his family members back in Jaipur as well as his colleague-cum-room mate in Chittoor, Mukesh Kumar Soni. rijpal's relatives had reportedly suspected Mukesh of having killed him before disposing of his body.
Brijpal had sustained a fracture in his leg at the Chittoor tile factory, and the leg was in plaster. Doctors had advised him complete rest so he preferred returning home. But unable to travel by train with a plastered leg, a relative booked him on a flight to Jaipur for July 10. Mukesh accompanied Brijpal to KIA and left after ensuring that he entered the departure terminal.
But he did not suspect things would go wrong. Having never visited an airport before, leave alone take a flight, Brijpal told The New Indian Express he did not want to fly. But still, when he approached the check-in counter, he was asked to produce a medical certificate for his leg injury. He did not have one and was turned away by the Indigo Airlines officials, before Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel showed him the door, he claimed.
It was then that Brijpal, distressed over his injury, chose to take a bus from the airport. Assuming that it will be going to Bengaluru, he boarded it, but the bus headed the other way — towards Kannamangala, where he spent a week without a mobile phone and no way to contact anyone, until he was found in the wee hours of Tuesday.
The BIAL, however, has a different story. In a statement, a BIAL spokesperson said Brijpal was turned away “taking strict cognisance of all security requirements” including those of the airlines.
“A passenger (Brijpal) travelling from Bengaluru to Jaipur on July 10, 2018 was denied boarding at the departure gate by the airline due to his intoxication and conduct. This was in accordance with national and international aviation safety protocols. Airline staff ensured that the passenger exited the terminal building safely after completing the airline and security requirements.
“The passenger subsequently went missing and the family lodged a complaint with the police. An extensive search was carried out by teams from the police, assisted by BIAL security staff, in the vicinity of the Airport. Finally, he was located at 2.30 am on July 17 at Kannamangala village…He was brought back to the airport, offered food, his relatives informed and handed over to the safe custody of the police until such time his family arrived.”
A senior police officer said Brijpal was not speaking properly and appeared mentally disturbed, for which medical treatment was provided. “We are waiting for his brothers to come (from Jaipur) to take him to their native Debra village in Rajasthan,” he said.When asked about the protocol that IndiGo followed in this case, an IndiGo spokesperson assured to get back on the issue. But many calls to the spokesperson later went unanswered. Brijpal told Express over phone, "I am fine and everything is good. I did not wish to fly in the flight thus I decided to come back from the airport. I do not want to reveal anything more at this stage.”
RELIEF FOR FRIEND
Mukesh Kumar Soni, his roommate who had come to drop Brijpal to the airport, told TNIE from Chittoor: “I came to know that Brijpal was found early in the morning. It was a big relief for me. His family suspected my role behind him going missing and they even alleged that I, along with my friend, might have done something to this and then filed missing case to divert attention of the police. I am going to meet him tomorrow.”