Taxman ‘gropes’ woman on flight

Tirupati: The Tirupati Urban Police on Monday arrested a senior income-tax officer Jayashankar of Nellore zone, on charges of misbehaving with a woman officer of the Indian Railways on board the Hyderabad-Tirupati flight of SpiceJet.
The 50-year-old taxman was seated next to the young railway officer when the flight took off from Hyderabad Monday morning.
During the hour-long journey, he allegedly misbehaved with her, pressing her feet and making advances. The woman tried to stop him, issued a warning and identified herself as a government officer. She also alerted the staff on board, besides informing some of the senior police officials in Hyderabad.
Information was also said to have reached the Airport police by the time the flight arrived at Renigunta airport, an hour-and-a-half behind schedule due to technical reasons.
The police took Jayashankar into custody at the airport as he disembarked. The woman lodged a complaint with the police of the concerned area.
Jayashankar was sent for medical examination to SVRR Hospital, as he was suspected to be drunk. The medical examination report received later in the evening confirmed that he was drunk.
Jayashankar has been booked under IPC Section 356. The police also took the versions of some of the passengers on the flight. Further investigation is on.