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A 28-year-old Indian-origin man, Praneeth Kumar Usiripalli, has been arrested in the United States after allegedly stabbing two teenagers with a metal fork during a Lufthansa flight from Chicago to Frankfurt, forcing the plane to make an emergency landing in Boston.According to the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, Usiripalli attacked two 17-year-old boys shortly after the cabin crew had served meals on Saturday. One of the teens was asleep in the middle seat when he woke to find Usiripalli standing over him, according to the Daily Mail.Prosecutors detailed the assault. They said the attacker then “lunged forward and stabbed the teenager in the collarbone before turning on another passenger and striking him in the back of the head.”Crew members quickly intervened, but Usiripalli allegedly made a gun shape with his hand, put his fingers in his mouth, and mimed pulling the trigger. The situation became worse when he “slapped a female passenger and attempted to slap a flight crew member” before being restrained.The aircraft was rerouted to Boston’s Logan International Airport, where police arrested Usiripalli upon landing. He has been charged with assault with a dangerous weapon with intent to cause bodily harm, a crime that carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Authorities revealed that Usiripalli had entered the United States on a student visa to pursue a master’s degree in biblical studies but had overstayed his visa and no longer holds legal status in the country.In a statement, the US Attorney’s Office confirmed that “the non-citizen individual was living unlawfully in the United States at the time of the offence.”Usiripalli remains in custody pending trial, with federal prosecutors describing the attack as “a frenzied mid-air incident that endangered passengers and crew alike.”
