Authorities say a Russian airliner was forced to return to a Moscow airport after a Tajik man fought with the flight crew and threatened to blow up the plane.
Police detained the man, identified as Davlatkadam Davlatkadamov, after the Dushanbe-bound flight landed back at Moscow’s Zhukovsky airport on August 29.
The Interfax news agency reported that Davlatkadamov began acting belligerently, and, when a flight attendant warned him, he got out of his seat and punched the woman in the head.
After the flight crew restrained Davlatkadamov, he threatened other passengers and claimed to have a bomb on board, Yelena Markovskaya, a representative of the regional investigative agency, told Interfax.
Video taken during the flight, and published by Russian investigators, showed Davlatkadamov with his hands and legs bound by tape as he gave conflicting answers to a police officer.
The man's father, Saidkadam Davlatkadamov, told RFE/RL's Tajik Service that his son had traveled to Russia to get a Russian passport, but suffered a nervous breakdown two weeks ago and was now on his way back home to Dushanbe.
"I think that during the flight the disease progressed," Saidkadam Davlatkadamov said.
"He was badly beaten on board the aircraft during his arrest. They had to understand that he had a mental disorder. What is with him and where he is now. I do not know,” he said.