Incident at BIA on Feb 11: Passenger responds to Aviation Ministry

Apropos ‘Ministry confirms incident but finds fault with passenger’ on page 3 of February 14 edition, the Russian passport holder of Sri Lankan origin said that he didn’t slap any member of the Etihad airline ground crew on February 11 as alleged by the Ports, Shipping and Aviation Ministry spokesperson. The passenger, who contacted The Island from Moscow, said that obviously the Ministry official hadn’t bothered to peruse police records at the police unit, based at the BIA.

The passenger said that he obtained copies of police records pertaining to this incident, in addition to OIC, police unit, BIA and would submit all available information to the Russian Embassy in Colombo. The passenger was prevented from boarding an Etihad flight from Colombo to Abu Dhabi following the alleged row over security procedures in place at the BIA.