'Extradite Rauf and send him to the gallows'

Says captain of the ill-fated IC-814 flight; a team leaves for Chile to establish whether the arrested person is the mastermind of 1999 Kandahar hostage drama

The Centre yet to establish whether the Abdul Rauf arrested in Chile is actually the mastermind behind the IC-814 hijack drama, but the demand of extraditing the terrorist and sending him to the gallows is getting shriller at home.


A terrorist checking the hull of the hijacked IC 814 in Kandahar in 1999

"If Abdul Rauf is successfully extradited from Chile and a speedy trial ensures that he is sent to the gallows, justice will be done to the victims of the 1999 Kandahar hostage drama," said Anil Sharma, who was the chief flight attendant of the ill-fated plane.

Captain Devi Sharan, the then flight commander of IC-814, echoed Sharma's sentiments but with some restraint. "I am aware of the development and happy too. But it is too early to jump to a conclusion that the arrested person is the same Rauf who masterminded the hijack drama.

The time of celebration has not come yet. I think we should wait for the report of our investigation team, which has already left for Chile to establish the identity of Rauf. If the person arrested is Rauf, he should be brought to India and hanged at the earliest.

This will be a fitting tribute to the victims of the hostage drama, particularly Rupin Katyal who lost his life on board IC-814."

Speaking exclusively to MiD DAY Sharma, now a deputy manager, flight services, with Air India, said each and every development of those eight days of nightmare is etched in his memory.

"It's hard to forget anything that unfolded during those fateful days. Two people, wearing masks on their faces, appeared from nowhere and pointed guns at me while I was coming out of the cockpit. Before I could understand, they forcefully entered the cockpit, taking me at gunpoint.

"Being one of the victims of the hijack drama, I personally feel that if Rauf is extradited, it will be a justice to all the passengers and crew on board IC-814.

I cannot forget those moments when the terrorists ruthlessly killed Rupin Katyal (a passenger) while the flight was cruising between Lahore and Dubai. One of my friends and I had to sit with Katyal's body in the flight. Rauf should get extradited to India and a speedy trial should be ordered into his case."

Government's take

Union Home secretary G K Pillai said, "We have got information that some Abdul Rauf has been arrested in Chile. We have sent a team to Chile to identify whether he is the same Rauf who hijacked the IC-814. If he is the same person, we will surely extradite him to India."

A senior official from the Union External Affairs Ministry too confirmed that a team had left for Chile to establish identify of Rauf. "Though we don't have any extradition treaty with Chile, it won't be a problem in bring him to India if he the IC-814 hijacker. We are in touch with officials in Chile and our first priority is to identify the person."

Arrest of Rauf

Chile police had arrested Abdul Rauf in January 2011 in a case of fake visa but during the investigations they found that there is notice against him in connection with the hijacking of IC-814 in 1999.
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Rauf, the mastermind of hijacking of IC-814, is the brother in-law of Maulana Mashood Azhar, chief of Jaish-e-Mohammed, who was released by the then Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in exchange for safe release of 189 passengers held hostage in Kandahar for a week.

Eight days of panic

December 24, 1999, flight IC-814 was hijacked with 178 passengers and 15 crew members on board after it took off from the Tribhuvan International Airport (Kathmandu, Nepal) for Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi. The armed gunman entered the cockpit and asked captain Devi Sharan to take the plane towards Lahore.
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But the flight soon ran out of fuel and Sharan had to make an emergency landing at Amritsar airport for refueling. But the hijackers soon forced Sharan to take off for Lahore.

By then the news of IC-814 hijacking had become international crisis, the Pakistani airport authorities shut down their air traffic services as they did not wanted to share the blame. The authorities effectively blocked the whole of Pakistan airspace for the Indian Airlines flight and switched off all lights at Lahore Airport.

The flight, which was running short of fuel, was finally allowed to land at the Lahore airport, but request to offload some women and children hostages was rejected by the Pakistani officials.

The flight soon left for Dubai where Rupin Katyal the only casualty in the hostage crisis, succumbed to his injuries.

The flight then headed for Kandahar where the hijackers demanded the release of 35 Pakistani militants languishing in Indian jails.

Soon a deal was struck between the hijackers and the Indian government and all the hostages of flight IC-814 were released on December 31, 1999 after the Centre agreed to free three top militants Maulana Masood Azhar, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar.