New Delhi: The Central government has called in the content head of Netflix India due to the recent controversy surrounding ‘IC 814 – The Kandahar Hijack’, a web series about the 1999 hijacking of an Indian Airlines flight by the Pakistan-based terrorist group Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, according to media reports. A controversy has erupted over the names of the terrorists in the series. Let us know about who were the hijackers.
When did the hijack happen?
Indian Airlines Flight 814, also known as IC 814, was hijacked on December 24, 1999, and flown to several locations before landing in Kandahar, Afghanistan. The motive was to secure the release of Pakistani terrorists held in Indian prisons. The hostage crisis lasted for seven days. It ended when India agreed to release the three terrorists.
Who were the hijackers?
Background
Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM) had carried out several attacks and kidnappings to free their imprisoned leaders in India, including Masood Azhar, who was arrested in 1994. In 1994, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh kidnapped Western tourists in India and was later released along with Azhar.
He then joined the HuM splinter group Jaish-e-Mohammed, founded by Azhar in 2000. In 1995, Al-Faran, a pseudonym of HuM, kidnapped Western tourists in Kashmir, and most of the abductees were killed, with one beheaded. Amjad Farooqi, involved in the 1995 kidnapping, was also one of the hijackers during this hijacking, using the alias “Mansur Hasnain”.
In 1999, Sajjad Afghani, the founder of HuM who was arrested with Azhar, was killed during a jailbreak, leading directly to this hijacking. Al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden provided organisational support for the kidnapping to have Azhar released.
The five hijackers were
Ibrahim Athar, Bahawalpur
Shahid Akhtar Sayed, Gulshan Iqbal, Karachi
Sunny Ahmed Qazi, Defence Area, Karachi
Mistri Zahoor Ibrahim, Akhtar Colony, Karachi
Shakir, Sukkur City
These five hijackers arrived in Nepal and boarded the plane from Kathmandu Airport.
The hijackers’ names were Ibrahim Athar, Shahid Akhtar Sayed, Sunny Ahmed Qazi, Mistri Zahoor Ibrahim and Shakir, a Union Home Ministry statement dated January 6, 2000, said. The Home Ministry added that the hijackers called each other Chief, Doctor, Burger, Bhola, and Shankar in front of the passengers.
IC 814 The Kandahar Hijack: The terrorists on the plane had codenames and called each other: Chef, Doctor, Burger, Bhola, and Shankar in front of the passengers. knowledge Knowledge News, Photos and Videos on General Knowledge
