Varanasi, Feb 19 ((ANS): Uttar Pradesh Congress regional president Ajay Rai has been booked for "rumour-mongering" and defamation.

The Airports Authority of India (AAI), Varanasi, has lodged an FIR against Ajay Rai after he allegedly claimed in a social media post that party MP Rahul Gandhi's flight was not allowed to land at the city's Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport (LBSIA) by the Authority under the UP government's pressure.

Acting on the complaint of airport acting director Ajay Kumar Pathak, the Phoolpur police has lodged the FIR against Rai, under IPC sections 505(2) (making any statement containing rumour or alarming news with intent to create or promote enmity, hatred), 500 (defamation) and 501 (engraving matter known to be defamatory).

The FIR says that on February 13, Rai tweeted a video blaming that AAI Varanasi did not allow a flight carrying Rahul to land at the LBSIA. Rai further said that due to air traffic congestion, pressure from the state administration and also due to the movement of the President, Rahul's flight was not allowed to land.

"The fact of the matter is that though aircraft operator AR Airways had filed a request to allow landing of VTARC aircraft carrying Rahul from Kannur to Varanasi on February 13. The flight was cancelled by the operator owing to the change in schedule of the guest. At the Kannur air traffic control, the flight operator filed the flight's destination as Delhi from Kannur instead of Varanasi," the airport official claimed in the FIR.

"The flight plan for Varanasi was cancelled by the operator on the request of the guests on board. It also intimated the decision to ATCs of Kannur and Varanasi on February 13," it was further claimed.