Influencer arrested for smoking inside SpiceJet plane gets bail

In a video shared widely on social media, Instagram influencer and Gurgaon resident Bobby Kataria, who has over 6.30 lakh followers, was seen lying down on the aircraft seat and lighting a cigarette in January this year.

The police had been looking for him after a case was filed after the incident in January.

SpiceJet legal manager Jasbir Singh filed a fresh FIR against Kataria in August, after which a local court told the Instagram influencer to join the police investigation.

Kataria eventually went to the police on Tuesday.

They took him into custody for the night after he refused to cooperate in the investigation, the police said.

The next day the local court granted him bail.

SpiceJet had said the matter had been investigated thoroughly in January when the video was brought to their notice and a complaint had been filed by the airline with the Gurugram Police.

In a strange stance, on his verified Instagram page, Kataria had even tried to defend his actions. Posting screenshots of news reports about the incident, Kataria took a swipe at the media for trying to get a better Television Rating Point (TRP), which determines the popularity of a show - at his expense.

"Only TRP is needed. Speak anything and keep politicians engaged," the Instagram influencer wrote in Hindi.

Apart from inconveniencing passengers, smoking inside the pressurised cabin of an aircraft poses a serious risk of fire.

Smoking inside a passenger aircraft is banned in India.