Top Indian shooters barred from boarding aircraft at Bangkok

NEW DELHI: In a strange incident, ace Indian shooters Heena Sidhu and Anjali Bhagwat were barred from boarding the Jet Airways flight from Bangkok to Mumbai for carrying weapons with "incomplete documents".

The two Arjuna awardee shooters were in transit on their return home from the ISSF World Cup in Changwon, Korea yesterday.

Heena said they were not allowed to board the aircraft despite having all the documents.

"We were, in fact, carrying extra documents and all the fees. But still the security manager of the Jet Airways in Bangkok, Shailesh Gala, did not allow us to board the flight. He made it an ego issue," Henna told PTI.

She added: "We even showed him the DGCA permit and the customs clearance letter but he had made up his mind and could not give us proper explanation. I asked him to give this in writing but he refused."

The two shooters, having faced prolonged harassment, were later booked an Air India flight after the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) intervened to resolve the matter.

"We had to then go out of the Bangkok airport and take a visa on arrival. We paid the extra baggage charges to Jet and also to Air India and in total we spent about 1700 euros. And finally we reached Mumbai via New Delhi."

The two shooters reached Bangkok airport at 12:30 am but could take a flight back home only at 8am.

The shooters, though, did not face any problems while carrying their weapons in the Korean Air from Busan to Bangkok with the same documents.