Indian-origin pilot arrested as soon as flight landed in America, know what is the whole matter?

News Topical, Digital Desk : An Indian-origin pilot in the US has been arrested at San Francisco International Airport. 34-year-old Rustam Bhagwagar was a co-pilot of Delta Airlines and was arrested in a sexual assault case on Sunday morning around 7 am, 10 minutes after the flight landed.

Officers from the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Department and agents from Homeland Security Investigations stormed the cockpit of Delta Flight 2809, a Boeing 757-300, shortly after it arrived from Minneapolis. According to USA Today, Rustam's arrest came as passengers were preparing to disembark.

'The co-pilot was taken away in handcuffs'

Witnesses say that as soon as the plane landed, at least 10 agents boarded the flight and took the pilot into custody. One passenger told the San Francisco Chronicle, "Officers and agents with badges, guns and different agency jackets/insignias came through the aisle into the cockpit and took the co-pilot away in handcuffs."

Rustam's fellow pilot was also shocked

Rustam Bhagwagar's fellow pilot says that he was shocked and did not know anything about Rustam's arrest. He was probably not told about the arrest because there was a fear that he might inform Bhagwagar, because the agents wanted to arrest him without informing him.

According to a Contra Costa Sheriff's Facebook post, detectives have been investigating since April 2025 after receiving a report of sex crimes against a child. An arrest warrant was later obtained for the suspect.

Bhagwagar's arrest comes after he was identified in April as a suspect in five counts of oral copulation with a child under the age of 10. He is currently being held at the Martinez Detention Facility and his bail has been set at $5 million.

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