IndiGo, Air India ban Kunal Kamra from flying for heckling Arnab Goswami

New Delhi, Jan 28: IndiGo on Tuesday suspended stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra from flying with the private airline for six months, after he allegedly heckled journalist Arnab Goswami aboard one of its planes from Mumbai to Lucknow.

"In light of the recent incident on board 6E 5317 from Mumbai to Lucknow, we wish to inform that we are suspending Mr Kunal Kamra from flying with IndiGo for a period of six months, as his conduct onboard was unacceptable behaviour," the airline said in a tweet.

"Hereby, we wish to advise our passengers to refrain from indulging in personal slander whilst onboard, as this can potentially compromise the safety of fellow passengers," it added.

Kamra allegedly heckled Goswami, the editor of Republic TV, on a Mumbai-Lucknow IndiGo plane on Tuesday. In a video clip posted by Kamra on Twitter, the stand-up comedian is seen asking Goswami if he is a "coward or a journalist".

Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri also shared IndiGo's tweet and wrote, "Offensive behaviour designed to provoke & create disturbance inside an aircraft is absolutely unacceptable & endangers safety of air travellers. We are left with no option but to advise other airlines to impose similar restrictions on the person concerned."

Following this, Air India has also banned Kunal Kamra from flying with them until further notice.