Delhi Police has issued a look out circular (LOC) against social media influencer Bobby Kataria who was booked after his video of smoking a cigarette inside an aircraft went viral, officials said on Saturday.
A senior police officer said Kataria's phone is switched off and raids were conducted at several locations but he is untraceable.
Kataria is not joining the investigation for a long time, hence an LOC has been issued against him, he said.
Last month, Delhi Police had registered an FIR against Kataria after a video of him lighting a cigarette inside a SpiceJet flight surfaced.
He was booked for alleged violation of security and safety measures based on a complaint filed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport Police Station on August 13 by Jasbir Singh, manager legal and company affairs of SpiceJet.
The case was registered under section 3(1) of the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against Safety of Civil Aviation Act 1982.
A spokesperson of the airline had earlier said, "The video...was shot on January 20, 2022 while passengers were boarding flight SG 706 scheduled to operate from Dubai to Delhi. The said passenger and his co-passengers shot the video on the 21st row when the cabin crew were occupied with completing the on-boarding procedure. None of the passengers or crew was aware of the act. The matter came to the airline's notice on January 24, 2022 through social media posts."
The matter was investigated thoroughly in January 2022 as soon as the video was brought to our notice and a complaint was filed by the airline at the Udyog Vihar police station in Gurugram as we have our headquarters in Gurugram. Upon seeking a response from the police authorities in Gurugram, we were advised on August 12, 2022 that the matter does not fall in their jurisdiction and accordingly a complaint was lodged with the Delhi Police," he had said.