Dubai: A drunk traveller has been accused of behaving mischievously with a policeman who stopped him from boarding a plane for carrying batteries that could have endangered the safety of the passengers and the flight.

According to the case, a policeman was on duty at the Dubai International Airport’s transit section when the 34-year-old Pakistani traveller arrived at the last checkpoint before boarding the plane in January.

Once the scanning device showed a number of strange metals, the policeman asked the passenger to step aside with him, according to records, to have his hand-carry luggage checked manually.

When the policeman opened the bag and found plenty of batteries, he told the man that carrying such batteries was not allowed as they were deemed dangerous.

The passenger turned rowdy and behaved rudely with the policeman and insisted on taking the batteries on board the plane with him, said records.

Addressing the passenger politely, the policemen reiterated that carrying batteries on board any flight was a dangerous act and disallowed by law.

The man, who happened to have been drinking since he flew in to Dubai from Chile, started cursing and shouting at the policeman.

When the policemen attempted to calm him down, the latter made an indecent gesture with his hands.

The liquor which he had been having knocked him out as he fell to the floor unconscious.

He regained consciousness at the police office in the airport and when he realised that the policeman wanted to take legal action against him, he instantly apologised.

However, he was taken into immediate custody.

Prosecutors charged the suspect with assaulting and offending the policeman and gesturing indecently at him in a public place.

The suspect entered a not guilty plea when he appeared before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Thursday.

“I am not guilty,” he told presiding judge Urfan Omar.

The policeman claimed to prosecutors that the incident happened at the airport’s transit section at 5.45am.

“The suspect refused to board the aircraft without his batteries … he insisted on taking the batteries with him although I warned him that it was disallowed by law. When I asked him for his passport, he turned rowdy and started behaving mischievously. He cursed my mother, sister and me in front of other passengers. He also made an indecent gesture. He shouted at me, offended me and cursed me until he lost consciousness and fell down as he was too drunk. He repeatedly apologised once he realised that I wanted to take legal action against him,” the policeman testified to prosecutors.

A ruling will be heard on March 29.