GS Paper - II

The Netflix series IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack was released, based on the hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight IC-814 — considered one of the worst terrorist acts in India’s history.

On the afternoon of 24 December 1999, five men hijacked an aircraft of the government-owned Indian Airlines. The hijacking would come to an end more than a week later, after negotiations, the release of three terrorists, the involvement of the Taliban, and the death of one of the 179 passengers onboard.

What was flight IC-814?

• Flight IC-814, an Airbus 300, was to travel from the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, to Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi on 24 December 1999.
• By 4.39 pm, the flight reached Indian airspace and those in the cockpit were having tea and coffee.
• Steward Anil Sharma was leaving the area when an intruder pushed him and walked in, startling Captain Devi Sharan and Jaggia.
• According to the statement from then Minister of External Affairs Jaswant Singh in Parliament on 1 March 2000, the Air Traffic Control (ATC) in Delhi first received information of the hijacking at 4.56 pm.
• This was thanks to Captain Sharan sending a coded message unseen by the hijackers, who demanded that the aircraft be taken to Lahore, Pakistan.
• After the ATC refused permission to land in Lahore, the flight reached Amritsar at 7 pm and the hijackers demanded refuelling.
• Suddenly, the IC-814 took off after about 47 minutes from Amritsar, as hijackers grew suspicious of what was unfolding. The aircraft landed at Lahore at 8.01 pm.
• At 10.32 pm, it took off for Kabul, Afghanistan. However, Kabul informed them that there were no night landing facilities and the aircraft thus headed for Dubai, landing at 01.32 am on 25 December.
• Following discussions between the UAE authorities and the hijackers, 27 passengers were released.
• The dead body of one passenger named Rupin Katyal, who had been stabbed by the hijackers earlier, was also off-loaded. The released passengers reached India on a special flight.

The final negotiations

• The aircraft then took off at 6.20 am and landed at the Kandahar airport in Afghanistan at 8.33 am. It stayed there until the hijacking ended on 31 December.
• Initially, the hijackers demanded the release of 36 terrorists held in India, including Masood Azhar who later founded the Jaish-e-Mohammed — involved in the 2019 Pulwama attacks.
• Ultimately, the Indian government released three terrorists: Masood Azhar, Mushtaq Zargar and Omar Shaikh. Taliban said they would then have the aircraft under their jurisdiction.
• Despite the Indian government asking for the hijackers and the released terrorists to be treated as criminals under the law, the Taliban let them leave Afghanistan after 10 hours.
• Hostage passengers and crew reached Delhi via two special flights. The hijacked aircraft returned to New Delhi on 1 January 2000.

Aftermath

• The Indian government said in its statement, “The hijacking incident has once again highlighted the complicity of Pakistan and of organisations patronised and supported by it in terrorist acts against India.”
• It said the police arrested four operatives of the Inter-Services Intelligence Agency (ISI) of Pakistan in Mumbai. The operatives belonged to the HuM.
• Their interrogation has established that the hijacking was masterminded by Pakistan’s ISI with the assistance of the Harkat.
• It was further revealed that all the five hijackers were also Pakistanis. The hijackers are now believed to be in Pakistan,” the government said.