Mystery of Flight IC-814: India's Most Insane Hijacking (Part 1)

 

The Takeoff and Initial Hijacking

On 24th December 1999, the Indian Airlines flight IC814 takes off from Tribhuvan Airport in Kathmandu. It will land at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi at 5.30 pm. This is the inside view of the flight. The aircraft has 178 passengers, 8 cabin crew members, and 3 flight crew members in the cockpit. These are Captain Devi Sharan, First Officer Rajinder Kumar, and Flight Engineer Anil Kumar Jaggia. Kathmandu's air traffic control gives a green signal, and the flight takes off at 4.05 pm. Among the 178 passengers, there's a young Indian businessman, Rupin Katyal, who went to Kathmandu with his wife for a honeymoon. About half an hour later, at 4.38 pm, a senior cabin crew member, Anil Sharma, calls the captain at the intercom. He says he's bringing coffee and tea for everyone. Anil Sharma knocks on the cockpit door, and the flight engineer lets him in. At the same time, the flight enters Indian airspace from Nepal's. As soon as Anil Sharma tries to get out of the cockpit, a man pushes him, and he gets inside. The man is wearing a monkey cap. The crew in the cockpit can tell that something's wrong. The man has a grenade in his left hand and a revolver in his right. The captain looks at him and says, Shit! What's going on here? The captain sees the grenade and the revolver and realizes that the plane is hijacked. But he doesn't know that there are four other hijackers who are also wearing monkey caps. There are many interesting things in this story.

The Hijackers and Their Motives

There are five hijackers. Ibrahim Athar, Shahid Akhtar Sayed, Sunny Ahmed Qazi, Zahoor Mistry, and Shakir. All of them are members of a Pakistani terrorist group, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen. Their only objective is to spread terrorism in Kashmir. Four ISI operatives planned this hijacking two months ago in Mumbai. Two of these operatives are Pakistani, one Nepali, and one Indian. The Indian was cast by the Pakistan ISI when he was working in the Gulf. After recruiting him, the ISI sent him to two intensive training camps. One camp was in Pakistan, and the other in Afghanistan. He rented a flat in the Vaishali Nagar area of Jogeshwari West in Mumbai. To learn basic skills, he joined a computer class. He even procured a fake Indian passport. In fact, the main ISI operative, Abdul Latif, used the same photo in two days to get two passports from the Mumbai passport office. During the two-month planning, the five hijackers and the four ISI operatives went to Kathmandu several times to prepare for the hijacking. Kathmandu was chosen for the hijacking because it's a stronghold of the ISI. In fact, Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Shakeel are also influential here.

Exploiting Weak Security in Kathmandu

At that time, smuggling was the biggest business after tourism in Nepal. In fact, a few years before the hijacking, Nepal imported mobile phones worth Rs. 400 crores. But there was no telecom network there. Smuggling was such a big business that security was weak. The ISI took advantage of this. The hijacker's tickets were booked by three different travel agencies using the fake names of the hijackers. These fake tickets were used to get to the airport in Kathmandu. Now you must be wondering how the hijackers got such big weapons in the airplane. And this is where a Pakistani diplomat enters. On the afternoon of 24th December, when the plane was hijacked, a car from the Pakistan Embassy arrived at the airport before the plane could take off. The license plate number of the car was 42CD14. Whenever a license plate has a CD, it's actually a diplomat's car. The car carries Pakistan's first secretary, Mohammad Arshad Cheema, along with two other people. The first secretary has a briefcase in his hand. All three of them head towards the departure lounge. The departure lounge is the area where passengers wait for the plane to take off after going through a security check. Because the secretary had a diplomat's passport, he didn't have to go through a security check. He reaches the departure lounge with the briefcase in his hands. The first secretary, Cheema, hands the briefcase to the hijackers.

Weapons Onboard and Hijackers' Actions

What's in the briefcase? Explosives, automatic weapons, and hand grenades. As soon as boarding starts, the five hijackers board the plane with other passengers. But to hide their real identities, they use fake names. For example, Ibrahim calls himself Red Cap, and the other hijackers call him Chief. He's the leader of this group. Shahid's name becomes Doctor, Sunny's Burger, Zahoor's Bhola, and Shakir's Shankar. As soon as they board the plane, Chief and Burger sit in the executive class, and the other three sit in the economy class. The chief meets the eyes of the cabin crew and tells them not to do anything. There's a bullet in this, and if I remove the pin, there will be a blast. Then he threatens that no one will speak without his permission. He asks if there's an airguard on board. Air guards are security personnel who are assigned to prevent hijacking. Chief asks this question, and both the captain and first officer say that there's no air guard on board. But Chief isn't satisfied with this answer. He says that he'll cross-check, and if someone gets caught, he won't spare anyone.

Cockpit Takeover and Initial Demands

At this moment, Burger enters the cockpit. He has a pistol and a rifle in his hand. He says, Chief, everything is under control. The chief asks the captain how much fuel is in the aircraft. The captain says there's a lot of fuel. We'll easily reach New Delhi. Chief says we'll go to Lahore, not New Delhi. The captain negotiates with the hijacker. He says there's not enough fuel to reach Lahore. But Chief says, either we'll reach Lahore, or I'll blow this plane up. Everyone in the cockpit knows that the hijackers know that there's enough fuel in the aircraft to reach Lahore. So their planning was good. The hijackers also know that there's extra fuel in the aircraft. Because during winters, airplanes have to go through extra rounds in the fog. So there must be extra fuel in the aircraft. So the hijackers knew everything about the plane. At this moment, the third hijacker enters the cockpit with a knife in his hand. He's the doctor. All the crew members have seen 3 hijackers in the cockpit. They think that if there are 3 hijackers in the cockpit, there must be more hijackers among the passengers.

Realization of a Planned Hijacking and Passenger Announcement

So they realized that it was a planned hijacking. After realizing this, the captain thinks about the passengers. And he asks the hijackers to at least make an announcement so that the passengers can cooperate with the hijackers. The chief says you can definitely make an announcement, but do everything with my permission. After this, the captain makes such an announcement that anyone would get goosebumps hearing it. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain, D. Sharan." "Our plane has been hijacked." "You must be patient and listen to the hijackers."

Chaos in the Cabin

Before this announcement, some of the passengers who were in the executive class were already wondering what was going on in the cockpit. But they weren't clear about what was going on. Ramesh Grover, who was in the executive class's 1B seat, says that when the air hostess came to serve lunch, he saw two men wearing masks. But because it was Christmas time, he thought it was a Christmas drama. After this announcement, he realized that it wasn't a Christmas drama but a hijacking. So the captain announces that the plane has been hijacked. And all the hijackers tell the executive class passengers to sit in the economy class. Then two hijackers run into the economy class's aisle. They beat up the passengers and tell them to put their heads down. Then the hijackers put all the women on one side. And tell the flight crew to blindfold all the male passengers. They also order to put all the luggage in the overhead bins in the executive class's empty seats. Because the hijackers don't want anyone to touch their luggage. The four hijackers are responsible for controlling the entire plane. While the chief is in the cockpit.

Hijacking Code and Government Response

And in the cockpit, the captain secretly sets the transponder at 7500 MHz. 7500 MHz is the hijacking code. This device tells the ground control that a plane has been hijacked. And it tells the plane's direction, position, and altitude. But as soon as the captain sets the transponder, the chief sees this. He says, you pressed the button? Don't try to act smart. I'll shoot you. Just fly the plane. And if you want to do something else, ask for my permission. Lucknow's air traffic control first finds out that the plane has been hijacked. And they immediately inform Delhi's air traffic control at 4.56 PM. This information has reached two air traffic controls. But see for yourself what mistakes our government makes. Union Cabinet Secretary Prabhat Kumar hasn't even created a crisis management group. The officials of IB and RAW who took part in hijackings in the past were not even informed about this. But just imagine, as this hijacked plane is heading towards Lahore, just 4 minutes away from this plane is another VVIP plane. This plane is carrying Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He was having a public meeting with Union Civil Aviation Minister Sharad Yadav in Bihar. And now he's returning. So the distance between the hijacked plane and Prime Minister Vajpayee's plane is just 4 minutes. But the Prime Minister doesn't know about this. Despite the fact that his plane also has a satellite phone. At 5.20 PM, Atal Bihari Vajpayee finds out about the hijacking when he lands in Delhi.

Formation of Crisis Management Group and Initial Miss Steps

And at 6 PM, a crisis management group is formed. There's a protocol in India that if there's an emergency situation, a crisis management group is formed to help the government make decisions. The head of this group was Cabinet Secretary Prabhat Kumar. And the members were the head of RAW, AS Dulat, NSG Chief Nikhil Kumar, Home Minister L. K. Advani, Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh, Civil Aviation Minister Sharad Yadav, and Senior BJP Leader Arun Chowdhury. This meeting was organized by National Security Advisor Brajesh Mishra, who was also the Chief Security Advisor of the Prime Minister Vajpayee. This meeting takes place at 6 PM in Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan's control room in Delhi. But the Home Minister, L. K. Advani, a member of the crisis management group, doesn't come to know about the hijacking from the government but from the TV news. At 6 PM, the meeting of the crisis management group starts. And after 5 minutes, the captain asks the Air Traffic Control of Lucknow to seek permission from Pakistan to enter their airspace. The flight captain tells the Air Traffic Control that there's not enough fuel in the airplane, and the hijackers are threatening to kill them. The Delhi Air Traffic Control tells the captain that Pakistan has rejected their landing permission. The chief isn't ready to accept this. He says we'll land in Lahore. The plane arrives in Lahore, but Pakistan has turned off the runway lights and blocked the runway so that the plane can't land. The Lahore Air Traffic Control tells the captain that they can't enter Pakistan's airspace and that they'll blow up the plane.

Political Tensions and the Lahore Refusal

Consider the political situation at that time. A few months ago, India and Pakistan had the Kargil War. Pakistan says that the hijacking is an Indian problem and it has nothing to do with it. But the chief isn't ready to accept the ATC's request. He says, We'll go to Lahore. But the captain says, What's the point of going to Lahore when we'll be blown up? The chief says, It's okay, the plane might get blown up. But you listen to me and go to Lahore. The captain then talks to the Amritsar Air Traffic Control. He says that the plane has been hijacked and the plane needs refueling immediately. The Amritsar ATC says that you can land here. But the chief isn't ready to accept this. The captain explains to the chief that there's no point in continuing. You'll need fuel if you want to go anywhere. So why not go to Amritsar, where we can refuel? Delhi Air Traffic Control gives the captain two options. Either go to Halwara in Ludhiana or go to Amritsar. The chief finally agrees to the captain's request. He tells Burger we're not going to Halwara, we're going to Amritsar.

Crisis Management Group's Delay and Amritsar Landing

But the country's crisis management group isn't ready for this. The meeting is 40 minutes in. But no one thought of putting Amritsar, Jammu, or Srinagar's airport on alert. So Pakistan refused to allow the plane to land there. India got a huge help from this. Now the plane is coming to India, and India can control it. So what will happen to the plane? At 6.40 pm, the crisis management group tells the Amritsar security team to delay the refueling of the plane as much as possible. At 6.44 pm, the flight heads to Amritsar. At the same time, Delhi's Air Traffic Control tells the district magistrate of Amritsar that a hijacked plane is about to land in Amritsar. But Punjab's Director-General of Police, Sarbjeet Singh, says that he didn't hear about the hijacking from a government official but from TV news. But apart from this, the Punjab's own crisis management group has already prepared for the hijacking. SSP, IGP, and other security officials have been informed, and the entire Punjab Police is on high alert. The airport's security has been increased, and the Punjab Police's commandos are on standby. At 7 pm, the flight lands at Raja Sansi Airport in Amritsar. The captain tells the airport to refuel the plane. In 1987, a plan was made to deal with emergency situations. It said that the Delhi crisis management group would take charge, while an airport committee was to be formed at every airport. The aerodrome committee has a manual that states that the committee should try to delay the hijacked plane so that the crisis management group can get more time. So the crisis management group told the Amritsar aerodrome committee to try to delay the plane.

Confusion and Delay at Amritsar

CMG's Brajesh Mishra also told the Amritsar Air Traffic Control not to allow the aircraft to move and to puncture the tires if needed. Brajesh Mishra said that he had clearly told Amritsar about this. But a senior police official in Amritsar said that he wasn't informed. And the situation worsened due to a call. A man called the Amritsar authorities and said that his name is J. Lal and he's a joint secretary in the Ministry of Civil Aviation. He said that the plane that was about to land in Amritsar should be refueled and sent there. Later, it turns out that it was a fake call. But people in Amritsar get confused about whether to refuel the plane or delay it. This confusion leads to a 20-minute delay. But when the confusion is cleared, Amritsar knows what to do. They tell the captain that the Indian oil facility is closed. They'll send another tanker in a while. The captain then sends a coded message to the Air Traffic Control. Hotel India Juliet Five. This means that there are 5 hijackers in the plane. Seeing this, DGP Sarbjeet Singh tells the Crisis Management Group that he has the commandos of the Punjab Police ready. He can send them on the plane. But he doesn't get approval from the crisis management group. On the other hand, CMG says that they'll send elite NSG commandos from New Delhi. At 6.25 pm, NSG is told to prepare for Amritsar's departure. At 7.10 pm, they are ready to board an IL-76 aircraft with anti-hijacking equipment. Along with them, 5 negotiators from RAW and IB are also sent. But none of the negotiators make it in time. Because of this, the NSG team is unable to depart. Ultimately, RAW negotiator CK Sinha makes it in time. But IB negotiator Nehachal Sandhu doesn't.

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