Jawaharlal Nehru Students' Union President Kanhaiya Kumar has claimed he was attacked by a co-passenger inside a Jet Airways flight on Sunday. He was asked to get off the flight along with Manas Deka, the man who allegedly tried to strangle him. Jet Airways' official statement said some guests on board the Mumbai-Pune flight were off-loaded at the Mumbai airport for operational safety. Deka is believed to have ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party.

One person has been detained in the case, the Mumbai police said. Kumar's associates confirmed to The Times of India that he was filing an FIR with the police.

The student leader was on his way from Mumbai to Pune to attend a programme at the Film and Television Institute of India. The issue that led to the incident is not known yet. He said on Twitter that a man tried to strangulate him inside the flight. In a series of tweets that followed, he slammed the airlines for not taking any action against the other person involved in the incident. On April 18, two people were arrested for sending a death threat to Kumar and student activist Umar Khalid.