Kandahar hijack mystery remains

New Delhi: It has been more than six years since the Indian Airlines flight IC 184 was hijacked by terrorists and flown to Kandahar. Yet, many critical questions still remain unanswered about the hijacking. And senior BJP leader and former external affairs minister Jaswant Singh's memoir has again brought these questions back to public domain.

On December 24, 1999, when Indian Airlines flight IC-184 took off from the Kathmandu Airport on Board were 174 passengers and an 11-member crew headed by Captain D Saran. Also among them were six heavily armed terrorists, ready to hijack the plane.

How they managed to get on board remains a mystery to this day. As per their plan, the plane was to be taken to Lahore, but the Pakistani authorities refused permission. Taking a U-turn, the plane then returned to India and landed at Amritsar Airport.

The hijackers demanded refueling, and when the Indian authorities dilly-dallied, they flew the plane back to Lahore.

Why was it allowed to take off from Amritsar at all is another mystery.

There are reports that at Lahore Airport arms were exchanged with the hijackers.

No one knows if the claims of Pakistan's possible involvement in the hijack drama are true or just a myth.

By then the condition inside the packed airbus was getting nightmarish for the hostages. The hijackers had killed one of the passengers, Rupin Katyal, in cold blood.

The hijackers then demanded that the plane be taken to Kabul. But realising that it was impossible to land there at night, they flew the aircraft to Dubai instead.

There 25 passengers were released, three old men, nine women and 13 children.

Rupin Katyal's body was also handed over to the UAE authorities. Early next morning, on December 25, the plane took was flown to Kandahar in Afghanistan.

The Taliban Government there set up communications with the hijackers and provded the hostages blankets, food and water. The plane was also refueled.

Indian investigative agencies raised questions over Taliban's actions. Did the Taliban actually help the hijackers? And what was Taliban leader Muttawakil's role in the episode?

Then came the demand that gave away the intention behind the hijacking. They demanded the release of Harkat-ul Ansar general secretary Maulana Masood Azhar from Tihar jail, 35 other militants and $200 million in cash. The next day a seven-member Indian team of negotiators reached Kandahar.

The breakthrough came a week after the day of the hijack. India released three dreaded militants, including Masood Azhar, in exchange for the 155 hostages. But what of the money demanded by the hijackers? Did it change hands at all? There is no answer to this question as well.

Over the past six years, Indian authorities have identified all the hijackers. They are believed to be living in Pakistan. Although the CBI sought their extradition in 2001, nothing has come of it till date.

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