Doctor posts anti-Muslim hate speech from IGIA against CISF jawan—and flies

An orthopaedic surgeon said to be based in Gurugram claimed on social media that on the eve of Republic Day, 25 January, a Muslim CISF jawan and a Muslim salesman at Terminal 3 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) tried to steal his Apple Watch.

The CISF called his bluff after examining the CCTV footage, but no case or FIR has been registered against the doctor yet for spreading falsehoods or causing animosity against a specific community.

In a long post on X, the doctor claimed that he had taken off his Apple Watch and placed it on a tray before going in for the security check.

After the security check, he could not find his watch on the tray. When he complained, he was asked to check his bags again; but in the meanwhile he saw a CISF man looking at him suspiciously and hurrying away, he claimed. He noticed the name tag identified him as Md Saquib.

The doctor claimed to have followed the CISF jawan, who he accosted outside the Helios showroom. The doctor claims to have forcibly searched the jawan and retrieved his Apple watch from his pocket.

In the meantime, a salesman came out of the sore and confronted him while the CISF jawan snuck away, he said. After a brief and heated exchange, the doctor left the store as he was getting late for his flight, he claimed.

On the way to the boarding gate, a CISF officer then accosted him together with the Helios salesman and asked him to explain his rude conduct.

The doctor then called up a senior official and had him speak to the men at the airport, following which they let him leave.

The doctor not only tagged the CISF and Delhi Airport in his post, but also threatened to follow up with the appropriate authorities once he landed at his destination — suggesting that the post was written and uploaded at Terminal 3 itself.

The next day, however, both the CISF and Delhi Airport authorities had checked the CCTV footage and called the doctor’s bluff.

By then, however, several news channels and portals had reported the post without apparently bothering to verify the facts.

While the doctor deleted his post and his account on X, some of the right-wing portals continued to display the story without mentioning the twist in the tail and without giving due acknowledgment to the rejoinders.

@DelhiAirport, meanwhile, addressed the doctor on X and posted, ‘We would like to inform you that the sovereign agencies have conducted a thorough investigation based on the details provided in your post. With reference to the highlighted incident regarding your travel via AI-801 on 25th January 2025 through Terminal 3, we wish to clarify that no suspicious activity was observed and the findings confirm that the allegations were unsubstantiated.

‘Please be assured that ensuring security of passengers is our highest priority and we are here to provide any additional assistance you may require.’

@CISFAirport also posted, “The review of the CCTV has contradicted the sequence of events as narrated above. After security check, you were seen wearing your watch and heading for boarding gate without interaction with any CISF personnel. The boarding was completed smoothly and hassle-free.’

‘Posting of such unsubstantiated messages creates unnecessary apprehension in the minds of passengers, hence avoidable,’ it concluded, rather forbearingly.

For strangely, neither the Delhi Airport authorities nor the CISF appear to have filed any FIR against the concerned doctor. No case has apparently been registered for spreading a fake story and creating animosity against a particular community.

The civil aviation ministry too yet to issue any order placing this passenger on a no-fly list — as it had done in the case of stand-up comic Kunal Kamra, when he was accused of trying to engage TV anchor Arnab Goswami in a conversation during a flight.

Would they have been as charitable if it had been someone from ‘the minority community’?