Jet Airways promoter and founder Naresh Goyal, along with wife Anita Goyal, was offloaded from an Emirates flight headed for London and prohibited from leaving India on Saturday morning by immigration officials, said sources.
The two had boarded the Emirates EK-507 flight and the aircraft was recalled after it had already reached the taxiway and preparing for take-off from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, Mumbai from where they were taken into custody by the Mumbai Airport Immigration for investigations, said sources.
Officials say that a lookout circular has been put out against the Goyals.
Naresh Goyal had resigned from the company’s board in March following the airline board’s meeting in Mumbai.
Jet Airways Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, Amit Agrawal had resigned on May 14 with immediate effect citing personal reasons.
The exit came days after the airline’s top executive Gaurang Shetty, considered close to Naresh Goyal, resigned from the board of directors.
The airline, which was formed on May 5, 1993, on April 18, was forced to announce a temporary suspension of all flight services as it was unable to maintain even bare minimum operations.
Jet, which once operated around 120 aircraft, owes over Rs 8,000 crore to a consortium of lenders led by the state-run State Bank of India (SBI).
Employees of Jet Airways had written to President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in April seeking their intervention to recover outstanding dues as well as to expedite the process of emergency funds for the airline.
(With agency inputs)