France grounds plane with 300 Indians: Airline denies any wrongdoing, says 'a customer chartered it'

livemint.com:

Legend Airlines did not officially respond to the allegations and Liliana Bakayoko, claiming to be the lawyer of the company asserted that the airline has not done anything wrong and “is at the disposal of the French authorities," a report by news agency AFP said. The lawyer added that a customer arranged for the charter of the plane and assumed the responsibility of authenticating the identity documents of every passenger. She noted that this customer shared the passenger details to the airline 48 hours before the scheduled flight.

The French authorities have maintained that the decision to ground the flight was taken as they received a tip-off that the flight was carrying people “likely to be victims of human trafficking". "Identity checks are being carried on the 303 passengers and the cabin crew," said the prosecutor's office. The authorities in France were conducting a full background check on the passengers of the plane and the conditions in which they were transported.

The French authorities shared the details of the case with the Indian Embassy, which took note of the incident and said that they are investigating the situation. "The embassy team has reached & obtained consular access. We are investigating the situation, also ensuring the well-being of passengers," the Indian embassy in France said in a statement on X.