By Times Now Digital
A 21-year-old Indian-origin man, Ishaan Sharma from Newark, was arrested after allegedly attacking a fellow passenger on a Frontier Airlines flight from Philadelphia to Miami on June 30. The mid-air altercation, partially captured in a viral video, shows Sharma and another man, Keanu Evans, grappling and attempting to choke each other as other passengers urge them to stop. Evans, who was seated just ahead of Sharma, told police that the incident was “unprovoked” and began when Sharma “approached him and grabbed his neck while returning to his assigned seat”. Detailing the bizarre encounter to 7News, Evans said, “He was doing some, like, dark laugh like, 鈥楬a ha ha ha ha.鈥 And he was saying things like, 鈥榊ou puny, mortal man, if you challenge me, it will result in your death.鈥” According to Evans, he became alarmed by Sharma鈥檚 behaviour and notified flight attendants after getting up to use the restroom. He said they advised him to press the assistance button if the situation worsened. When the threats allegedly continued, Evans said he pressed the button鈥攁fter which things took a violent turn. “You know, he’s looking at me very angrily and we’re looking eye to eye, forehead to forehead, and then he just grabs me by the throat and just starts choking me. At that moment, it was, you know, fight or flight responses kick in. I’m in a tight, confined space on an aircraft, and all I can do is just defend myself,鈥 he said. Sharma was taken into custody upon landing in Miami and charged with battery. During his court appearance on Tuesday, Sharma鈥檚 lawyer claimed that the incident may have stemmed from a misunderstanding involving meditation. “My client is from a religion where he was meditating. Unfortunately, the passenger behind him did not like that,” the attorney said. Get Latest News Live on Times Now along with Breaking News and Top Headlines from US News and around the World.