courtesy: bbc
The harrowing hijacking of Indian Airlines flight IC 814 has been of interest again due to recently released Netflix series, IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack. Three notorious terrorists, who were in Indian jails, were freed to fetch the hostages, and the episode dealt an added blow to Indian dignity.
UB Bhat, one of the passengers who was on that ill-fated flight, spoke at an event hosted at the Bangalore International Centre for celebrating a decade over this tragic episode. Former R&AW chief AS Dulat and one of the negotiators, Anand Arni, joined Bhat in the chat. He recalled in the chat the unusual absence of security personnel on ground in Kathmandu, and said that he did not initially believe that the flight had been hijacked. The IC 814 was first diverted to Amritsar, then Dubai, and finally to Kandahar.
Asked for his reaction to hijacking when first it happened, Bhat said, “the flight was to take off from Kathmandu at 2:30 pm, as per schedule. It took off at 4:30, and we were looking forward to Christmas Eve parties in Delhi. On that day, at the Kathmandu airport, there was absolutely no security. All machines were down, as if it was pre-planned.”
He continued that after being served drinks and foods, about 20 minutes later, he realised a commotion. He saw a person next to him wearing a mask saying ‘Aap sab baithe raho, koi uthega toh goli maarenge’. Bhat added that he mistook the whole situation for movie shooting and asked for another glass of scotch. The terrorist got irritated and shouted at him, which was when he realized that something is happening.
The hijackers agreed for the passengers to be released on December 31 agreeing for three terrorists to be released by Indian authorities. One of the hostages, Rupin Katyal was killed during the incident.
