IC814: India's Deadliest Hijack

"The ATC says, don't worry, the fuel will reach there in a while." "Meanwhile, there's a commotion in the plane." "Doctor attacks Satnam Singh with a knife." "But Punjab Director General of Police Sarabjit Singh says that he didn't hear about the hijacking from a government official, but from the TV news." "So, the NSG team leaves for Amritsar at 7.55 pm." "The hijacked plane had already left Amritsar 6 minutes ago." "Now you must be wondering how the hijackers got such a big weapon in the plane. "And this is where a Pakistani diplomat enters." 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 airspace. 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 hand. The captain looks at him and says, Shit! What's going on here? The captain sees the grenade and the revolver and realises that the plane is being 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. But before that, I want to tell you about an app that will save your time. If you're a small or big business owner, you'll have to sign a lot of papers at some point. Odoo's

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check out Odoo's SignApp. Let's get back to the video. 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. 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. 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 air guard 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. At this moment, Burger enters the cockpit. He has a pistol and a grenade in his hand. He says, Chief, everything is under control. Chief asks the captain how much fuel is in the aircraft. 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. So, they realised that it was a planned hijacking. After realising 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." 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. Like 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. 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 the 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 the 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. 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 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. Consider the political situation at that time. A few months ago, India and Pakistan had 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. 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 aerodrome 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. 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 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 in 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. 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 in 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. 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. 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 commandos. 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. The airplane is now heading to Lahore. Even this time, the Pakistan 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 night time and there's no night 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. 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. 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 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. 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. 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. 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 become restless. They're nervous. They say that

they'll leave Kandahar now. The crew sees the restlessness of the hijackers. They realise 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. 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 he 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. 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 need 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. 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 auto-rickshaw. 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 request 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 councillor 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. The crisis management group is in a state of tension. They have to negotiate with the terrorists. The plane is in a bad shape. All the toilets are clogged.

The plane is stinking. And the passengers are exhausted. On the other hand, the chief is very anxious. This means that the passengers' lives are in great danger. At midnight, the hijackers wake up the flight engineer. The chief tells the flight engineer to go to the luggage area of the plane and get their luggage. In the late December night, when it's very cold in Kandahar, the flight engineer goes outside the plane followed by Burger with a revolver. He brings the hijacker's suitcase from the luggage area. No one knows what's in the bag. But the crew is

wondering if it has a bomb in it. This increases the tension in their minds. At 2 a.m., the Afghani engineer tells the flight engineer that the Indian government is sending a relief aircraft to Kandahar. The chief tells the captain and the first officer that the Indians are coming. This arouses the captain and the first officer's hopes. But the atmosphere in New Delhi is very different. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee holds an emergency cabinet meeting. But he's under a lot of pressure because the news channels only talk about the passengers' family members. Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh

is holding a press conference. And amidst the press conference, many family members enter the room. They ask what the government is thinking. The hijackers asked for the release of some terrorists. So you release them. "...putting in the dark." "Pompous statements have been made about the greatness when the fact lies that it was an absolute security lapse." The passengers tell Jaswant Singh that in 1989, when Union Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed's daughter was kidnapped, the government released the terrorists to save his daughter. So when it was about the minister's daughter, you didn't think about it. But why

are you thinking so much when it's our family? But it wasn't an easy question for Jaswant Singh. Because they were demanding Maulana Masood Azhar's release. The government was wondering what to do. They couldn't even get a military operation done in Kandahar. So the only option was to negotiate with the Taliban. Something that the Indian government didn't want to do. But they had to do it because the hijackers were getting more desperate. The cockpit now looks like a war zone. There are revolvers, grenades, and bullets everywhere. The hijackers were clearly threatening the passengers and the Indian

government with this imagery. And the chief was in a bad mood. It had been hours since he had told the Indian government what he wanted. But the Indian government didn't give any update. The chief tells the captain and flight engineer that your country doesn't care about you. They don't care what's happening here. It's important to teach them a lesson. The flight engineer tells him to be patient. The chief replies, how much more patient should I be? Outside the plane, the Taliban has surrounded the entire aircraft. They have jeeps and tanks. This makes the hijackers more

nervous. The chief tells the air traffic control to remove the commandos from near the plane. The air traffic control says, don't worry, they're here to protect you. The chief says, remove them, we don't need any protection. But then a Taliban commander says in anger, you won't even touch a single passenger. If you hurt anyone, the commandos will immediately enter the plane. The hijackers got even more nervous. They thought the Taliban would support them. But they're actually scolding them. Taliban leader Maulana Mohammad Umar says in an interview, either the hijackers will have to leave Afghanistan or

surrender. When the Indian government hears such news, it gets confused. The Indian government says, the Taliban is supporting us. But according to our intelligence reports, the hijackers were sent by the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen. They have a very strong relationship with the Taliban. So is the Taliban with us or with the hijackers? That's why AR Ghanshyam, the commercial counsellor at the Indian High Commission in Islamabad, comes to Kandahar. His mission is very simple. To see whose side the Taliban is on. India's or the hijackers'. Ghanshyam can also talk to the hijackers through the radio. He tells them that

the government is considering their demands. But the hijackers say, why are you taking so long? Your government doesn't care about the passengers. While in New Delhi, the government is preparing a negotiating team to send the Kandahar. The team includes the Joint Secretary of the Ministry of External Affairs, Vivek Katju, and Ajit Doval, who is an experienced negotiator in the counterinsurgency. A relief team of 30 people also accompanies them. Two doctors, one nurse, engineers, and 20 anti-hijacking trained commandos also go with them. The plane leaves New Delhi at 4.30 pm and reaches Kandahar at 7.30 pm.

The hijackers tell the passengers that the Indian delegation is arriving in Kandahar. As soon as the passengers hear that the plane is landing at Kandahar airport, they start clapping. But they don't know that they have to spend four more days on the airplane. The Indian delegation lands in Kandahar and the passengers see a lot of positive things. For example, food is sent at 9.30 pm to 10:30 and the airport staff comes to clean the toilets. So people think that the hijacking is over. But the negotiations have just begun. When the Indian negotiators arrive in Kandahar,

they get a briefing from AR Ghanshyam. He tells Vivek Khatju and Ajit Doval that the hijackershave a lot of weapons. They're desperate. And the Taliban are neither pro-India nor anti-India. They're taking a neutral stance. The Indian delegation meets the Taliban's foreign minister and tells him to put more pressure on the hijackers. The foreign minister says that he'll try to do this, but there won't be any military action on his land. He doesn't want anyone's blood to be spilled on the Taliban's land. After this, the negotiators talk to the chief for the first time. Ajit Doval

says that he's here to negotiate and listen to his demands. But he has a request. Let Rachna Katyal go, who is Rupin Katyal's wife. The chief replies that he won't release anyone until Masood Azhar is released from jail. The negotiations stop there and the hijackers say that they'll negotiate tomorrow morning. At 4 am, the plane's auxiliary power unit shuts down. The plane's air conditioning, lighting, and communication equipment are now off. In such a situation, the hijackers get even more desperate. Bhola orders the passengers to use the toilet for just 10 seconds. Whereas Burger starts talking

to the passengers about Kashmir. How the Indian security forces are misbehaving with women in Kashmir. In the morning, Vivek Katju meets the Taliban's leader again to ask for his help. But the Taliban refuses to participate in the negotiations. Meanwhile, it turns out that the hijackers are talking to a secret third force through a satellite phone to find out what's going on on the ground. You'll soon find out who this mysterious force is. In the afternoon, the hijackers make a new offer. They're ready to release 35 hostages if they get Masood Azhar. But the Indian team

refuses. The hijackers then make new demands. They want release of 35 jailed militants, $200 million in cash, and Sajjad Afghani's body. Sajjad Afghani is a terrorist. He was trying to escape from the high-security Jammu jail. He was killed in the process. As the news of the hijackings reaches India, the passengers' families get even angrier. They start shouting slogans and enter government buildings. Riot police are called to control them. This anger is also evident in the plane. When the hijackers ask, what's the Indian government doing? Suddenly, the chief tells the crew that they'll fly back the

next morning. But the chief doesn't say to where. The next morning, there's a twist in the story. Suddenly, the Taliban has become pro-India instead of neutral. The Taliban leaders say that the demand of the hijackers is un-Islamic. It's against Islam. The Taliban's foreign minister and supreme leader, Mullah Omar, talk to the hijackers to withdraw their demand. The foreign minister talks to the hijackers for 30 minutes. He says that with the Taliban there, the Indian government won't carry out any military operations against them. After this call, the hijackers agree to reduce their demands. The Taliban's foreign

minister immediately informs the Indian delegation. Vivek Katju then calls Jaswant Singh and says that the Taliban is now cooperating with them. At 10 a.m., the chief tells the passengers that the negotiations are going well and a deal will be made soon. The Indian delegation tells the hijackers to first release the women and children. The hijackers refuse. The hijackers tell Ajit Doval to make a decision quickly. This deal won't last long. Ajit Doval tries to create an emotional bond between him and the hijackers. He tells the hijackers that their religion didn't teach them this. Hijacking innocent

passengers is against Islam. The hijackers say that they don't need to be taught Islam. Make a decision quickly. At the same time, a U.S. spy satellite in Mumbai records a call between the hijackers in Kandahar and the ISI operatives in Mumbai. The ISI operatives were the third force that informed the hijackers about the situation on the ground. The CIA gives this information to the Mumbai police. The Mumbai police then raids several places. It turns out that these callers are calling from the Golden Soil Colony in the Jogeshwari area, flat number 707. The Mumbai police raid

the place and four ISI operatives get caught. These are the four ISI operatives in Mumbai who planned this hijacking. The next day, at 5 a.m., the doctor wakes up the flight engineer and tells him to get the plane ready. The chief tells the flight engineer to refuel the plane. They have to reach another location. But the flight engineer says, look at the condition of the plane. He refuses to do this. The chief tells the flight engineer that there's no point in talking to the Indian government. All negotiations have failed. Burger comes out of the cockpit.

The passengers are told that their time is up. Now, I'll show you how real hijackers are. Because the Indian government communicates slowly, hijackers get frustrated. Whereas, the Indian government is trying to negotiate with the Taliban. Jaswant Singh calls the Taliban's foreign minister in the morning and asks him to start negotiations with the hijackers. The foreign minister then tells the hijackers to reduce their demands. The hijackers then tell the Afghan foreign minister that if 15 people don't get released from jail, they'll blow up the plane. This was a good sign for the Indian government. The hijackers'

demands had reduced from 35 to 15. But the Taliban's foreign minister tried to negotiate more. He said, forget 15, just ask for 5. The hijackers agreed. Ajit Doval then tells the hijackers that he'll choose the names of the 5 people who'll be released. The hijackers repute this proposition. The hijackers and the negotiators communicate even further. It's decided that apart from Masood Azhar, 2 more people will be released. So, the hijackers' demands were this for a while. Now, it's this. At 3.30 pm, the chief goes to the cockpit. He tells the other hijackers that the negotiations

were successful. But the story isn't over yet. The hijackers' mood changes at night. They say, release the 35 militants, or we'll kill all the passengers. Vivek Katju and Jaswant Singh try to negotiate with the hijackers again. But somehow, the hijackers finally agree and say that 3 terrorists will be released. Maulana Masood Azhar from Jammu's Kot Bhalwal Jail, Mushtaq Ahmed from Srinagar Central Jail, and Ahmed Umar Syed from Delhi's Tihar Jail. At 3 pm, the foreign minister Jaswant Singh and the 3 terrorists leave Delhi. They land in Kandahar after 1.5 hours. Jaswant Singh arrives there with

high hopes. He tells the Taliban that he'll go back with the hijackers to teach them a lesson. The Taliban tells Jaswant Singh that there's no need to do this. Just take care of your passengers. In fact, the Taliban's foreign minister gives Jaswant Singh a bill. The bill includes a parking fee for the plane, brown rice, raisins, and things like water which he gave to the Indian passengers and hijackers. The Taliban had issued a bill to Jaswant Singh for $25,000 for their services. While in the airplane, it was like a wedding. The hijackers were saying goodbye

to the passengers and crew. Burger hugged the captain and said sorry. The doctor said to the captain, we are very sorry. And finally, the hijackers said to the captain, Captain, the work is done and we are leaving. The Taliban gave 10 hours to the hijackers and terrorists to leave Afghanistan. After this, all of them crossed the border and left for Pakistan. Now, India knows the consequences of releasing Masood Azhar. Due to media coverage, Masood Azhar becomes a celebrity in Pakistan. After reaching there, he gives many speeches throughout the week where he demands Jihad in Kashmir.

In March 2000, he starts a militant group called Jaishe-e-Mohammad. He announces this not in a small room but in a public stadium. A few months later, Jaishe-e-Mohammad commits suicide bombing near the base of the Indian Army, Badami Bagh. Next year, this militant group attacks the New Delhi Parliament. In 2006, it attacks Srinagar. In 2016, four Jaishe-e-Mohammad terrorists attack the Pathankot Air Base. In the same year, army camps are attacked in Uri. In 2019, a suicide attack against the CRPF takes place in Pulwama where 40 Indian soldiers die. Today, in the Indian government's list, Masood Azhar

is the number one terrorist. His brother lead the hijackers and his brother's son masterminded the Pulwama attack. If you liked the video, do subscribe to support me. All my sources are in the description.