At a time when the entire staff of Jet Airways, including hundreds in the Northeast, is staring at a fleak future, the former Jet Airways chairman Naresh Goyal and his wife tried to flee from the country on Saturday evening.
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However, in a significant move, immigration officials thwarted their attempts as they called back a taxiing Emirates Boeing 777 aircraft at the Mumbai airport to stop Goyal and his wife, Anita, from leaving the country.
The couple who are non-resident Indians were on way to Dubai.
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It is learnt the couple were told that they cannot leave the country. However, their passports were reportedly handed over to them and asked them to proceed to their home in Mumbai.
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According to officials, a lookout circular has been put out against the Jet Airways founders.
The Serious Fraud Investigation office and the Enforcement Directorate have reportedly begun inquiring into the Jet Airways crisis.
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Goyal founded Jet Airways in 1993 and was its chairman till he was asked to step down by lenders in March early this year.
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The airlines were grounded on April 17 after it failed to repay a debt of over Rs 8,000 crore.