Mystery of Flight IC-814: India's Most Insane Hijacking (Part 2)

 

Stalemate at Amritsar and Escalating Hijacker Frustration

At this point, the hijackers tell the captain that the engine will never turn off. The captain is told to keep the plane moving. He tells the captain to move the plane forward, then stop it. Then move it forward, then stop it. Then take a 180-degree turn, then stop it. He wants the aircraft to keep moving so that no one can get in. The aircraft lands in Amritsar at 7.30 pm. Half an hour has passed, and the hijackers are furious. The captain calls ATC and says that the hijackers have guns on their heads. They can kill anyone at any time. ATC says, Don't worry, the fuel will reach there in a while. Meanwhile, there's a commotion on the plane. Doctor attacks Satnam Singh with a knife. The hijackers are so frustrated that they vent out on Satnam Singh. The doctor cuts another man's throat. 25-year-old Rupin Katyal. The man is in agony. He begs for water. But the hijackers don't budge an inch. Rupin is badly injured. His is bleeding. But the hijackers just cover him with a blanket. Then, the captain tells ATC that the hijackers have attacked two people. Send the fuel now. Between 7.01 and 7.49, the captain asks ATC for fuel at least 12 times. The captain says that the hijackers have AK-47s, pistols, and grenades. At one point, the captain begs for fuel. He says, Send the tank now. Why don't you understand our problem? Seeing this desperation, the air traffic control finally sends a fuel tank.

Failed Refueling Attempt and Unauthorized Takeoff

The tank contained the commandos of the Punjab Police. But due to miscommunication, the tanker's driver started driving too fast. The air traffic control told the driver to drive slowly. But due to miscommunication, instead of slowing down, the driver stopped the tanker. The chief sees this from the airplane and says that something's wrong. This tank doesn't contain fuel, but commands. The hijackers threaten to start shooting the hostages. The captain had a pistol on his head, and there was no support from the special forces. So the captain flew the plane without the approval of the air traffic control. If something had gone wrong, the plane would've collided with the tanker. At 7, the plane landed at Amritsar airport. At 7.49, the plane takes off without refueling. But pay attention to the NSG team. The team was ready at 7.10 pm. But the crisis management group approves them to go to Amritsar at 7.55 pm. That's 45 minutes later. The NSG team was waiting for 45 minutes to see what the crisis management group would say. So the NSG team leaves for Amritsar at 7.55 pm. The hijacked plane had left Amritsar 6 minutes earlier. So we didn't follow the main standard operating procedure of hijacking. We allowed the hijacked plane to fly. But the Indian government couldn't talk to the hijackers or help the passengers. The NSG team reached Amritsar an hour after the hijacked plane took off.

Flight to Lahore, Death of a Hostage, and Onward to Dubai

The airplane is now heading to Lahore. Even this time, the Pakistani air traffic control doesn't allow the plane to land. It's worth noting that the hijacking has been going on for 5-6 hours. But the Indian government still doesn't know who the hijackers are and what their demands are. As soon as the crisis management group finds out that the plane is heading to Pakistan, Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh calls the Pakistani government and asks them to allow the plane to land. He also asks them to let the women, children, and elderly pass. But his request is rejected. At the same time, the plane's captain talks to the Lahore air traffic control and says that if they don't allow the plane to land, he'll have to crash-land because there's no fuel in the plane. In response to this threat, the Lahore air traffic control agrees and says that they'll have to refuel the plane and leave immediately. So the plane lands in Lahore and refueling begins. But the Pakistani government doesn't allow anyone to leave the plane. This includes 25-year-old Rupin Katyal, who's been badly injured. He's not given any medical support, which is why he died that night. After refueling, the plane takes off again. But the chief doesn't tell the captain where the plane would be headed. He says that they'll go to Kabul. But it's nighttime, and there's no nighttime landing facility in Kabul. So the chief says that they'll go to Dubai. He says that they'll go to Kabul tomorrow morning. So at 1.30 am, the IC-814 lands at Al-Minad Air Force Base, which is 60 km from Dubai. The base housed the Crown Prince and the chief of the UAE Armed Forces. Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh tells the Crown Prince to allow Indian commandos to operate in his airbase. The Crown Prince rejects this. But to prevent such an operation, the chief tells the captain to never stop the plane and keep moving it either forward or backwards.

Negotiations in Dubai and Partial Release of Hostages

At the same time, there's a man in Dubai Air Traffic Control, Abdullah, who's an expert in negotiations. He starts negotiations with the hijackers. He says that he'll give them fuel only if they give him passengers. He says that at least let the children, women, and the elderly go. The hijackers agree to this. But they say that the refueling will be done first, and then the passengers will be allowed to go. Then the refueling begins. The hijackers let 27 passengers go, including Rupin Katyal's body, who was killed in the airplane. The refueling is done, but the flight crew is very tense. Because the plane has flown for 5000 km without any maintenance. According to the airline's guidelines, many checks have to be done before taking off. But nothing of the sort happened with this plane. So the captain tells the hijackers to get the plane serviced. But the hijackers refuse. The flight engineer repeats this again and again. After this, the hijackers finally agree to what he says. A gun is held at the flight engineer's head, and he's told to inspect the plane. The flight engineer is shocked to see the plane. The plane has flown for 5000 km, but the condition is still good.

Continued Negotiations and Departure for Kabul

At the same time, Abdullah, who's in air traffic control, starts negotiating with the hijackers because he wants to slow down the process. He says that the passengers need food, so he would send some food. But the hijackers don't believe him. They say the plane will fly. So on 25th December, at 6.30 am, the plane departs from Dubai. Now that it's morning, flights can land in Kabul. The captain is told to fly to Kabul. The captain is nervous because Kabul is a place where no Indian flights land. Because the Taliban is ruling Afghanistan. And India doesn't even recognize the Taliban. Instead, India officially says that the government of Afghanistan is run by Burhanuddin Rabbani, who was overthrown by the Taliban in 1996. After Rabbani's defeat, Ahmad Shah Massoud was fighting the Taliban. India was supporting Ahmad Shah Massoud against the Taliban. So when the Indian government found out that the hijackers were going to Afghanistan, they were tensed.

India's Dilemma and Misinformation

First of all, they had no communication line with the hijackers and the Taliban. The Taliban government is recognized by only three countries. UAE, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia. And India doesn't have a strong relationship with all three countries. India didn't even have an embassy in Afghanistan. In 1996, the embassy was shut down when the Taliban took control of Afghanistan. But looking at the situation, Foreign Secretary Lalit Mansingh, India's High Commissioner in Pakistan, urges Parthasarathy to talk to the Taliban no matter what, even if they ask for help from Pakistan. But the situation worsens at 10.30 am. Delhi Air Traffic Control receives a secret call saying that the hijackers are from the Islamic Salvation Front, a terrorist group that no one has heard of. The Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Chamanlal Gupta, even gives this news to the media. Later, it turns out that it was a prank call. The Crisis Management Group gets even angrier. Instead of solving the problem, others are worsening it. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee says that now only Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh will speak on behalf of the government. As soon as the plane enters Afghanistan's airspace, Kabul Air Traffic Control tells the plane that it can't land in Kabul. It should go to Kandahar.

Landing in Kandahar and Hijackers' Confidence

A civil war is going on between the Taliban and the Northern Alliance Forces, which is why Kabul's airport is in ruins. As soon as the plane lands in Kandahar, the hijackers tell the entire crew to leave the cockpit. The hijackers then take control of the cockpit. As soon as the plane lands at the airport, many Taliban commandos stand by the plane. The hijackers then tell Kandahar's air traffic control to send a man who can speak in Pashto. They want to start a negotiation. The hijackers ease up after landing in Afghanistan. They believe that the Taliban will support them. While in India, the Crisis Management Group is trying through Pakistan and the UAE to somehow talk to the Taliban and the hijackers. At the same time, Sharad Yadav, the Indian Civil Aviation Minister, goes to Dubai to receive the passengers whom the hijackers had left behind. But as soon as he meets the passengers, he's shocked. All the passengers are in shock. He tells his government that they can't waste time. They must prioritize the safety of the passengers. When the hijackers see how the Taliban commandos are behaving, they get nervous.

Hijackers' Restlessness and Failed Refueling in Kandahar

The chief tells the flight engineer that they're leaving Kandahar. The flight engineer says that he has to do a maintenance check. But the chief says that they'll leave now. The hijackers suddenly became restless. They're nervous. They say that they'll leave Kandahar now. The crew sees the restlessness of the hijackers. They realize that if they don't listen to the hijackers, they'll blow up the plane. Since there was no fuel in the plane, the hijackers had to ask for fuel from the air traffic control. At 4 pm, an Afghani engineer tries to refuel the plane, but it doesn't work. The hijackers tell the flight engineer to go and help the Afghani engineer. The Afghani engineer asks the flight engineer what's wrong with the plane. The flight engineer says that the plane needs maintenance. In addition, the plane's valve is damaged, so the fuel couldn't go into the tank. But the Afghani engineer doesn't listen to the flight engineer. Instead, he says that the engineer isn't letting him work. Then Burger threatens the flight engineer that if he tries to act smart, he'll blow up the plane. When Burger cools down, he asks the flight engineer what's wrong with the plane. The flight engineer says that the plane can't fly. The chief gets even more nervous. He says they have to leave at any cost. All five hijackers are nervous because neither the plane can fly nor the Indian government has contacted them. Then, the chief tries to provoke the crew. He says that they have been on the plane for more than 36 hours, but no one has tried to seek after their well-being. It's 11 am, and the Indian government hasn't communicated with the hijackers. So the hijackers are even angrier. They threaten to kill two foreign hostages.

International Pressure and the Hijackers' Demand

The crisis management group asks for the US' help. Through the United Nations, the US tells the Taliban that this is a good opportunity for them to improve their image in the world. So, they should keep the hijackers under control. At 7.30 pm, the Indian government receives a fax from the Kandahar Air Traffic Control. This fax was the first message from the hijackers to the Indian government that they should release Maulana Masood Azhar. So this entire hijacking plan was planned for just one man. Masood Azhar. You can understand how powerful this man is with this incident: When the Indian police arrested him in 1994, Masood Azhar said, you don't know how important I am to Pakistan and the ISI. You don't understand my popularity. The ISI will do anything to bring me back to Pakistan. At the age of 26, this is what Masood Azhar told the Indian police. Masood Azhar was born on 10 July 1968 in Bahawalpur, Pakistan. His family was a rich family of landlords. His paternal and maternal grandfathers were religious. So he was interested in Islam since childhood. He participated in many speech contests and won many awards in school. The same thing happened at the university, where he won many speech contests and debate awards. He used his speaking skills to spread terrorism in a few years. He was studying Advanced Religious Studies at the university. It's called Shahadat-ul-Alimia. He became a teacher at the same university. When he was a teacher, some people from Harkat-ul-Ansar or Harkat-ul-Mujahideen came to him and said, we need jihadis from this university to liberate Kashmir from India. Jihadi means unofficial soldiers of Islam. So the people of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen went to the university principal and asked him to tell them who would be the jihadi. The principal selected Masood Azhar for the jihad training. During the training, it became clear that Masood Azhar wanted to do jihad but wasn't physically fit. So the HR department of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen decided to enroll him in writing and communication. After this, Masood Azhar started writing a monthly magazine called Sadai-e-Mujahid. This magazine became very successful. After this, Masood Azhar became a senior member of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen.

The Rise of Masood Azhar

After this, he traveled the world and gave speeches in mosques. For example, in 1993, Masood Azhar went to Dar Al Ulaam University in the UK to give a speech. He said that the Quran says that you can kill people in the name of Islam. His speeches were so effective that it became easy for Harkat-ul-Mujahideen to collect money. So whatever speech contests he won as a kid were now useful. He would often go to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and talk about liberating Kashmir. He would tell young boys that they needed to cross the LOC to liberate Kashmir. After a while, something happened in India that Masood Azhar used for his jihad mission. On 6th December 1992, the Babri Mosque was demolished. After this, Masood Azhar gave many speeches about how Hindus will suppress Muslims in India. Because of this, all Muslims will have to unite and liberate Kashmir. For this reason, in 1994, Masood Azhar went to Srinagar with a fake passport, in which he claimed to be Essa bin Adam. He went to Srinagar to get two terrorist groups merged. Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and Harkat-ul-Jihad-e-Islam. In Srinagar, he met a militant leader, Sajjad Afghani.

The Arrest of Masood Azhar and Subsequent Demands for Release

On 11th February 1994, Sajjad Afghani and Masood Azhar were returning from a meeting when their car ran out of fuel. Both of them go to a nearby petrol pump in an autorickshaw. But on the way, there's an army checkpoint. Both of them are stopped at the checkpoint. The army sees that this is Sajjad Afghani. Both of them are arrested. But the army doesn't know who Masood Azhar is. At the same time, Masood Azhar says, you won't be able to keep me in custody for long because you don't know how important I am to Pakistan and the ISI. As soon as Masood Azhar goes to jail, his statement becomes a reality. Ten months later, many foreign tourists are kidnapped in Delhi. The kidnappers ask Masood Azhar to be released, or the tourist won't be spared. But this plot fails because Delhi and Uttar Pradesh's police save the tourists from Saharanpur. In July 1995, five more tourists are kidnapped in Kashmir. Terrorists demand the release of Masood Azhar. Even the Pakistani government tries to release Masood Azhar officially. This is a document from the Indian Ministry of External Affairs. In June 1996, a retired Major General and the Interior Minister of Pakistan requested the Indian High Commissioner to release Masood Azhar on humanitarian grounds. In December 1997, the Pakistani High Commissioner tells the Ministry of External Affairs that Maulana Masood Azhar is a Pakistani national and that they should give him councilor access. Two years later, in 1999, Masood Azhar is in the Kot Bhalwal Jail in Jammu and Kashmir. A tunnel is dug under the jail so that Masood Azhar can escape. But he was so fat that he couldn't fit his belly in the tunnel. I'm not making this up. You'll find all the sources in the description. The final attempt to release Masood Azhar was to hijack the IC814 flight. And guess what? The hijacker's chief is Masood Azhar's brother. This is why the hijackers reach Kandahar and tell the Indian government via fax that they want Masood Azhar's release.

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For Part 3 Click Here