Mumbai: JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar on Sunday alleged that a co-passenger tried to "strangle" him inside an aircraft before a flight from Mumbai to Pune.


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However, the charge has been dismissed as "cheap publicity" by the man - Manas Jyoti Deka (33), an employee of TCS in Pune - who was detained in connection with the incident.


According to Manas Jyoti Deka - Seat issue


"My hand just happened to brush his neck as I was trying to balance myself on an aching leg. I do not know him personally though I have seen his pictures. This is being done for cheap publicity," Manas told reporters in Mumbai. He said he was returning to Pune from Kolkata to report for work.


According to  Maharashtra Minister of State (Home) Ram Shinde - Trying to malign BJP image


Following the incident, Maharashtra Minister of State (Home) Ram Shinde said Kanhaiya was trying to malign the image of the BJP-led state government.


Nevertheless, the state government has ordered a detailed inquiry into the episode, he said.


"He had been provided full security by the state government till the time he boarded the aircraft. Nobody can be given security once inside the plane. I, too, do not get security while I am flying," Shinde told PTI.


"Kanhaiya Kumar was travelling with three other persons. He had been allotted a window seat and thus, while crossing over a passenger who was seated in the middle, he got into a fight with him. The other passenger did not even know this man was Kanhaiya Kumar and he, too, is alleging he was beaten up by the student leader," Shinde said.


Shinde said that he has asked Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Deven Bharti to conduct a detailed inquiry into the incident and bring out the facts.


According to Kanhaiya Kumar


"Yet again, this time inside the aircraft, a man tries to strangulate me," Kanhaiya tweeted after the alleged incident which took place when he was inside a Jet Airways aircraft at the airport here.


Kanhaiya was subsequently offloaded from the plane by the airline staff on safety ground, forcing him to take road route to Pune to attend an event there.