November 26 incident came to light after woman wrote to company boss. (Representational photo)
A police team from Delhi today conducted raids at "several places" to track down Shankar Mishra, the man who urinated on a woman aboard an Air India flight from New York to Delhi in November, sources said. He is suspected to have fled Mumbai, the city where he lives, NDTV has learnt.
"His possible location is in some other state and the police team has reached there. We will arrest the accused at the earliest," a police source said, not revealing further details.
While Air India has banned him for 30 days — the government regulator can take more severe action — police in Delhi have registered an a case on the airline's complaint under sections related to sexual harassment and obscenity.
Separately, the regulator, DGCA, said it has sought a report from the airline and will "take action against those found negligent".
The November 26 incident of the drunken man's horrendous behaviour came to light after the woman complained to the top leadership of Tata Sons, which owns Air India.
As she said the staff was not particularly sensitive or helpful — she had to travel on the same seat, soaked in urine, and the man faced no action — the airline has set up an internal probe committee as well. It filed a foral police complaint only on December 28.
The National Commission for Women has stepped in and written to the company boss, N Chandrasekaran, to intervene. It has also sought a detailed report from Delhi Police within seven days.
The commission said the behaviour of the man violated the woman's right to live a life of dignity and safety. After urinating, the man allegedly did not move until another passenger asked him to, it said.
The woman had complained to the crew, who reportedly just gave her a set of pants and slippers and told her to return to her seat, which they covered with some sheets, claiming no other seat was available, the commission noted.