Nishikant Dubey's action at Deoghar ATC equivalent to terrorist act: Cong MP Pratapgarhi

Congress Rajya Sabha MP Imran Pratapgarhi on Saturday slammed BJP MP Nishikant Dubey and said that the alleged ruckus by the latter at Air Traffic Control (ATC) in Deoghar airport is equivalent to a terrorist act.

Dubey was booked for allegedly forcefully taking clearance from the ATC at Deoghar airport in Jharkhand.

"The way Dubey created ruckus in ATC is equal to a terrorist act. When a person is a Member of Parliament then he should have followed the law but he is flouting it openly. BJP members feel that they are above the law. Now he has used threats against the collector. Strict action should against them. BJP president should warn these MPs and ask them to follow the law," Pratapgarhi told ANI

Notably, Dubey defended the incident and said that there was no violation of rules and everything was done on time.

Congress MP alleged that Dubey is misusing his power by threatening the officials.

"I have seen the CCTV footage. Nishikant is trying to divert the act. Why would the District Collector take action without any issue? Dubey is misusing his power and threatening officials. This is like a crime and since he is a legislator so he should follow the law. More cases should be filed against Dubey," he added.

Deoghar Police in Jharkhand has registered an FIR against BJP MPs Nishikant Dubey, his two sons, MP Manoj Tiwari and Deoghar airport director among nine others for allegedly entering the ATC room at the Deoghar Airport without permission and creating pressure on officials for takeoff on August 31 in spite of the fact that there is no night take-off or landing facility there.

The FIR was registered at Kunda police station on September 1 on the complaint of security in-charge Suman Anand who stated that the said persons violated all safety standards by entering the ATC room and forcing the officials for clearance to take-off.

The security in-charge has sought action against the pilot of the chartered plane, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, Kanishk Kant Dubey, Mahikant Dubey, MP Manoj Tiwari, Mukesh Pathak, Devta Pandey, Pintu Tiwary and Sandeep Dhingra, Airport Director.

According to the complaint filed by the security in-charge, "Nine people Nishikant Dubey, Kanishk Kant Dubey, Mahikant Dubey, Manoj Tiwari, Member of Parliament, Kapil Mishra, Sheshadri Dubey Sunil Tiwari and others had come to Deoghar by chartered plane at 1 pm on August 31. During his return in the evening, others including Dubey forcibly entered the ATC room."

As per the complaint letter, at around 17:25 hrs passengers arrived at the airport to board their chartered plane. They were accompanied by other people who had come to see them off.

The security in-charge further states in his letter that Deoghar airport does not have an IFR facility that is Night Takeoff and Landing facility is not available. On August 31, the local sunset timing was 18.03 hours and air services are to be conducted up to 17.30 hours.

( With inputs from ANI )