Feuding staff star in high drama at Sahar airport

The rift between Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) and Airport Authority of India (AAI) became apparent on Wednesday when members of the two bodies exchanged heated words and blows over a remark by an MIAL employee. The employees then lodged a complaint  with the Sahar police.

The AAI and MIAL employees were undergoing a three-day civil defence course at the international terminal. While they were having lunch, Raju Chamola, a MIAL employee entered the room and said, “Fokat ka hai to daba ke kha lo (eat as much as you can since the lunch is free).” This agitated AAI employees, but they did not respond.

The AAI employees decided to confront Chamola in the presence of their head of the department on Wednesday. The altercation began when they questioned Chamola.

“A few days back, he had also made a casteist remark against our colleague and a complaint was filed with the Sahar police,” said an official of the fire brigade. 

Chamola allegedly took the fire brigade’s ambulance to the Sahar police and lodged a complaint of assault. “As he had taken the vehicle without our permission, even we lodged a complaint against Chamola,” said a fire brigade official. 

Dilip Patil, senior PI, Sahar police station said they had registered a non-cognisable offence case against both the parties and had left them after a warning.