An ex-top banking executive was detained by Indian authorities on Saturday following accusations that he defecated on a passenger in November during an incident on an Air India flight.
According to the Indian news outlet Mirror Now, Shankar Mishra, who at the time was vice president of Wells Fargo’s Indian division, is accused of sexual harassment, obscenity, and insulting a woman’s modesty. Mishra will remain in detention for 14 days as police continue their investigation, although he has asked for bail, and a hearing has been scheduled for January 11.
The first incident happened on an Air India flight from JFK Airport to New Delhi on November 26. Unidentified business class passenger Mishra, later named as Mishra by German media DW, rose up and urinated on a 72-year-old woman in the row in front of him while intoxicated.
The unnamed woman immediately informed the flight crew of what had occurred and requested a seat change. The crew refused to let her sit in first class, which had some open seats, saying they had no other seats for her.
As opposed to cleaning the seat, which she claimed was still damp and “reeking of urine,” the crew instead allowed the woman to sit on a crew seat for two hours. She insisted that the alcoholic passenger be arrested and refused to sit in the seat.
She insisted that she not see or speak with him, but Mishra woke up and that he speak with her. He “began sobbing and apologizing profusely” to the woman, pleading with her not to file a complaint.
The woman claimed that, “in the face of his pleading and begging in front of me, and my own shock and trauma,” it was challenging for her to insist on filing charges.
The woman first agreed to receive payment for her shoes and clothing, but she then refused Mishra’s money and returned everything. She then took legal action and made a formal complaint.
In the wake of the event, Air India de-rostered the pilot and four other members of the flight crew while the company conducts a proper internal inquiry. The crew has come under heavy fire for letting Mishra escape with no consequences.
When they discovered Mishra’s involvement, Wells Fargo fired him and described the situation as “very distressing,” according to DW. After that, Mishra fled and has been evading capture since early December. He went so far as to switch off his phone in order to avoid being tracked, but in Bangalore, he used his credit card.
The Hindu, a daily newspaper in India, reports that the airline didn’t submit a police report until December 28.
Air India “has taken a very serious view of the event, where a customer acted in an unbecoming and undignified manner on the New York-Delhi aircraft that caused significant anguish to a fellow passenger,” a representative for the airline told The New York Post.
The statement said, “A police complaint has already been filed, and Air India is committed to helping the regulatory authorities as well as law enforcement.”
By the time of publication, Wells Fargo had not replied to a FOX Business request for comment.
Shortly after Mishra’s incident, another inebriated customer on board an Air India flight from Paris to New Delhi on December 6 peed on an empty seat and another passenger’s blanket, according to Fortune.
In the second instance, the flight attendants segregated the passenger and reported the event to authorities and air traffic control. When the police arrived, they held the culprit.
However, the airline let him go after “the victim and the accused reached an accord” and after he submitted a formal letter of apology.
