'Safe' Mayank reaches Bengaluru

Bengaluru: Even as Mayank Agarwal boarded a direct flight from Agartala to Bengaluru on Wednesday, sources in the know revealed that the spurious liquid he had consumed on Tuesday was most likely bleach. 

The Karnataka skipper, who landed here on Wednesday evening, drank the transparent liquid out of a bottle tucked in the pouch of his front seat onboard an Indigo flight headed to New Delhi.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Karnataka team flew to Surat on Wednesday morning after spending overnight in Delhi. The team had missed the connecting flight to Surat from Delhi after their flight from Agartala was delayed by over four hours.  

As soon as the liquid came in contact with his mouth, Mayank spat it out and called for help. After assessing the situation, stewards called on doctors, if any, on board, and a member of staff with Karnataka’s Ranji Trophy team attended to him first. 

“… he was finding it hard to breathe, he was panicking so we took him to the toilet and kept pouring water into his mouth,” said a source. “We told him not to swallow the water. I knew this was a cleaning agent, most likely it was bleach. They use it to clean the aircraft.”

Once Mayank was deplaned and rushed to the hospital, it was revealed that his tongue was severely burnt, leading to bleeding, and the insides of his cheeks and his lips were aggravated.  

"What happens a lot of times is they buy industrial strength cleaning agents in these massive jerrycans. For ease of access, they transfer them into smaller bottles, the kind of bottles we drink water out of. Normally, they clean out the place and remove all the bottles. I think this was left out,” said the source who attended to Mayank.

The bottle and its contents are under investigation at the moment, and an FIR has also been filed. 

The same source also revealed that the stewards tried to keep the bottle away from the team manager and the team. 

Mayank, however, told DH earlier in the day via WhatsApp that he was out of harm's way and was looking forward to be back on the field. When asked what the liquid was, he said: "It looked like water."

He even Tweeted: “I am feeling better now. Gearing to comeback. Thank you for prayers, love and support, everyone!" Agarwal posted on X, along with pictures of him on a hospital bed.

The team manager revealed that Mayank was kept under observation the whole night, and was given clearance to board the flight the same day.  

A member of Mayank's family said the India cricketer will be headed directly to a hospital and he will be attended to there before returning home. 

"We has not been able to speak or eat since the incident, and was on IV the whole of yesterday," a family member said. "He is on a lot of medication, but he's stable. The chemical has done a lot of damage to his mouth so we have to be careful. As of now, we are not sure of which hospital he is going to be admitted to, but I am sure everything is set up already from his end. 

In Mayank's absence, Nikin Jose, the current vice-captain, is likely to lead the State side against Railways from February 2.