Lecture 27: Kandahaar Hijack IC814

Inter-Relation b/w Hijack & Parliamentary Attack

This case is related to the Afzal Guru hanging in 2013. Who exactly was he, and why was he
hung? Afzal Guru’s 180 page confession is what lead us to understand what happened at the
Parliament which followed this Hijack. The parliament attack was carried on by 5 Fijahiden
[Suicide Fighters]. The master mind of the parliament attacks was one hostage which India
had released in the hijack.

The Hijack

Kathmandu – How Weapons Got In

Christmas eve, 1999 – there was still a lot of tension between India & Pakistan. The Kargil
war ended in July, and this was December the 1st year. Pakistan had undergone changes,
army rule was now in place and there were no relations between the 2 countries. On
24th/12/1999 – a flight is to take off from Kathmandu to Delhi. The security is tight. The
Hijackers didn’t just smuggle in small arms, they smuggles in suitcases full of grenades. You
can bypass security in a way. Each country has embassies of all countries they have relations
with. The ambassadors of these embassies have diplomatic power. They can show their
diplomatic pass and bypass security.

In Nepal, the Pakistani embassy had a diplomat by the same Azeez Cheema. He had been
here for long, hence him going past security was regular. In the aftermath investigation, it
was found out that Azeez Cheema was a member of the ISI. Morning of the hijacking, he
comes to the airport in a diplomat car – white ambassador. He carries 2 suitcases into the
airport. Those two suitcases are the one terrorists display on IC814. Its easy to join the dots.
The terrorists went through like civilians, and their weapons came in via Azeez Cheema. Till
1999 you could carry scissors and knives, and these small arms all these terrorists were
carrying. This is what they also used to hijack the plane. Hence, it wasn’t a security failure.
The Nepalese government misread a diplomat.

Hijacking Video

 Hijackers tell the captain to fly to the West, to Lahore, as the alternate city was
Ahmadabad. Even though the captains say there isn’t enough fuel, he insists.

Hijacking

The pilot managed to activate a hidden beacon. This is only activated during time of
emergency, and all cockpit conversation start getting recorded and the ground staff can
hear it. People now know the plan is hijacked. They can track the plane. At this point, India’s
National Security Guard - NSG is not informed. They are the rapid action team and they had
no clue. They couldn’t send a military plane after it.
The captain realizes that Lahore would be the worst place to land. He slows down the plane,
so it takes more fuel. The plan starts wobbling. The captain fakes the no fuel story, and says
we HAVE to land in Amritsar. After much persuasion, the hijackers agree. All these
conversations are being heard by Delhi. By now the NSG should have been waiting at
Amritsar but they are not even informed.

Amritsar

They land in Amritsar, and the hijackers are given 30 minutes to re-fuel. Meanwhile, NOW
the NSG is being informed. The NSG doesn’t even take off from Delhi till now. The Amritsar
authorities are told to delay fuel dispatch for as long as possible. They parked the fuel
tanker is parked in front of the plane on the runway so that they cannot take off. They are
also told to use a silent weapon and shoot the tyres of the plane.

Authorities send the tanker out, it goes towards the plane and comes back. The Hijacker
realizes India is delaying things and he forces the captain to take off. The pilot tells him they
won’t even be able to reach the border. The Hijacker goes to the business class and stabs a
man to death. His hands are tied and his face is gagged. He bleeds to death. The pilot is
given a time till 30, otherwise more passengers would be killed. The pilot HAS to take off. He
gives out the message that they are taking off, and they will die due to no fuel.

Lahore

The plane crosses on to Lahore, however Pakistan does not want to allow the plane to land.
They switch off all runway lights. Now it is a matter of time before the plane crashes. He is
almost about to land on the highway. The authorities realize that the pilot is desperate, and
switch the lights on. They land, they’re allowed to land, take the fuel and leave. Nobody
comes out. Katyal’s wife has no idea till now that he has been stabbed.

UAE

In the next three hours the flight reached UAE. India has better ties here. India contacts UAE
and asks the administration to allow the NSG to land here and carry out a commando raid.
The UAE denies. The UAE convinces them to bring out the bodies of the passengers who are
injured. Photos of these bodies spread like wild fire, and Indian people became furious
about how nothing has been done. Israel offers to conduct the raid for India in return for
nuclear strategy, but India denies.

Kandahar

The plan has flown non-stop over a 1000 miles, and is in no shape to fly, however the pilots
are forced to fly again. The plane is made to take off AGAIN from the UAE to Kandahar
Afghanistan. 2 days before the hijacking, Vajpayee was giving a conference where the topic
of Afghanistan Taliban government comes up. Vajpayee had said 2 days before the hijack
that India does not recognize the Taliban government. And now, India found itself in the
region of the Taliban.

Hijacking Video

 The hijackers knew the people outside in Kandahaar, as is made obvious by them
waving at each other.
 Ajit Doval was a prime negotiator for India here. He asks for photos to see who these
hijackers are.
 The Indian government does not recognize the Taliban government, but they need
to begin interaction.
 The Hijackers now want the plane to fly again. The Pilots refuse because now its
almost impossible.
 The hijackers gain access to the cargo hold and get out the bags with all the
weapons.
 The Indian government starts getting together to solve the crisis. Talks of negotiation
start.
 India puts together a team of negotiators which lands in Kandahar to negotiate by
28/12/2017. They were surrounded by Taliban.
 Hijackers said there would be no compromise on the release of Maulana. He was in
the Jammu Jail. They also wanted Mushtaq Ahmad Zagar and Omar Sheikh.

Negotiations

India gave in to the demands of the hijackers very quick thinking that they were on a suicide
mission. However, they actually were not because they were all masked. They planned to go
back and live after this. Hence they could have been negotiated with.

The chief hijacker is Ibrahim Atar who was Maulana Masood’s younger brother. The
hijackers want 2 million USD & 3 other terrorists. India cannot understand which group
these hijackers belong to too. They seemed to have come together for this particular
mission. The take back their call on the money. India could have just released 1 terrorist as
these hijackers were willing to negotiate. Vajpayee says no passenger will spend the
millennium new year in this plane. The situations in this plane were horrendous and
unbearable. He gives new years as the defined deadline and this put unnecessary pressure
on the negotiators hence they agreed to most terms and conditions. They gave all 3 from
different parts of India – are flown to From Delhi to Kandahaar.

Aftermath

The passengers are released. It was on new years that all the passengers and crew landed.
India suspended all flight to Kathmandu for 6 months.
These 3 terrorists went on to wreck havoc in the world. India under pressure did make the
fatal mistake of releasing 3 terrorists. They have carried out and financed multiple terrorists.
Some of them also went ahead to attack the Indian parliament.