Chennai, Jan 17 (IANS): BJP MP from Bengaluru South and national president of the party's Yuva Morcha, Tejasvi Surya, has come under the lens after IndiGo released a statement on Tuesday, claiming that a passenger had opened the emergency exit of its Chennai-Tiruchirapalli flight on December 10, 2022.

While the airline didn't name the passenger, it said the incident occurred on IndiGo flight ATR 72-600, which was scheduled to depart from Chennai to Tiruchirapalli at 10.05 a.m. but was delayed by two hours due to the act.

However, a passenger who was on the same flight has claimed that it was Tejasvi Surya who had opened the emergency exit, stating that the BJP MP was seated near the emergency exit and after the cabin crew explained the emergency rules, he pulled it open.

This led to deplaning of all the passengers, and after two hours of waiting, the flight took off.

The passenger said that the chief of BJP's Tamil Nadu unit, K. Annamalai, was also on the flight along with Surya.

He said that Surya later travelled on the same flight, but he was removed from the seat near the emergency exit.

B.T. Arasukumar, a former BJP leader and currently the spokesman of the DMK, who was also on the same flight, told IANS that he had seen both Surya and Annamalai on the flight, but did not know if the MP had opened the emergency exit.

The Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has commenced an inquiry into the matter. However, when contacted by IANS, the DGCA official declined to comment on the matter.

When contacted, Surya's office informed IANS that a statement will be released soon in this regard.