Influencer Who Smoked Inside SpiceJet Plane Arrested, Released On Bail

Bobby Kataria, an Instagram influencer whose video of smoking inside an aircraft went viral, was arrested by the Delhi Police and was released after a local court granted him bail.

Mr Kataria, who has over 6.30 lakh followers on Instagram, lit the cigarette inside a SpiceJet aircraft in January this year, drawing criticism over the behaviour that posed serious risk of fire inside the pressurised cabin.

The police had been looking for him after a case was filed after the incident in January. SpiceJet legal manager Jasbir Singh filed a fresh police case against Mr Kataria in August, after which a local court told the Instagram influencer to join the police investigation.

Mr Kataria eventually went to the police on Tuesday. They took him into custody for the night after he refused to cooperate in the investigation, the police said. The next day the local court granted him bail.

SpiceJet had said the matter had been investigated thoroughly in January when the video was brought to their notice and a complaint had been filed by the airline with the Gurugram Police.

Mr Kataria tried to wriggle out of the tangle claiming the video of him smoking was shot inside a dummy aircraft. His claim had contradicted the airline's statement, which also mentioned the flight number in which the incident happened. Even Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia had tweeted there would be "no tolerance towards such hazardous behaviour."

Mr Kataria also faces a police case for allegedly drinking liquor on the middle of a road in Uttarakhand.