The Kandahar hijacking was the longest hijacking in Indian aviation history.
New Delhi: The hijacking of an Indian Airlines flight in 1999 was back in the news after the release of ‘IC 814: The Kandahar hijacking‘ series about Netflix The longest hijacking in Indian aviation history took place on August 29 and no similar incident has occurred after this. The 6-episode web series has been adapted from a book titled ‘Flight Into Fear’ by Captain Devi Sharan, the man who saved the lives of 190 of the 191 passengers on the plane, and Times Now’s consulting editor Srinjoy Chowdhury.
On Christmas Eve 1999, five masked men hijacked Indian Airlines Flight 814 as it took off from Kathmandu, Nepal, bound for New Delhi. It was one of the most dramatic and stressful events in aviation history. The incident not only tested the resolve of the Indian government, but also highlighted the complex challenges of managing international terrorism.
Captain Devi Sharan, then 37, was piloting the plane when five masked men hijacked the aircraft and forced it to fly across several countries before finally landing in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Sharan still flies for Air India and her name has gone down in history for the way she handled the situation.
It’s been 25 years, but the stories keep coming to light: Captain Sharan, passengers on the ill-fated flight, and government officials involved in negotiations with the terrorists speak out about what happened over seven days, as the entire country watched with bated breath as the unprecedented event unfolded. 191 lives were at stake, and it was a high-stakes battle in which Indian officials faced a difficult decision: the hijackers demanded the release of 36 prisoners and a $200 million cash ransom. After negotiations, the Indian government managed to narrow the number down to three.
Srinjoy Chowdhury’s book titled “Flight Into Fear” contains several such accounts and details. Now, Anubhav Sinha’s series delves deeper into the harrowing events surrounding the flight hijacking. Speaking to Times Now, Srinjoy revealed that he has more to tell. 25 years later, he has more accounts from the passengers and quotes from officials who were involved in the negotiations. There are more stories to tell and hence he has planned to publish the book with additions.
Netflix IC 814: The Kandahar kidnapping
The incident happened in 1999, the book was first published in 2000, so why did it take two decades to get published? Srinjoy says that though the calls started coming in after more than a decade, it took him years to negotiate until he decided on Sarita Patil.
“More than a decade after the book was published, people started calling me asking for the rights to make a film, so negotiations with various people took a long time and then we (Srinjoy and Captain Devi Sharan) were very happy with the producer who finally made the series,” he said.
The Netflix series stars a host of veteran actors including Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapur, Manoj Pahwa, Kumud Mishra and Arvind Swami. The main lead of the series was undoubtedly the brilliant Vijay Varma who played the role of Captain Devi Sharan.
Produced by Matchbox Shots in association with Benaras Mediaworks, Anubhav Sinha’s streaming directorial debut was released on August 29 and has received high praise as a “well-crafted, well-researched show, responsibly made.”
There’s more!
“A new edition of the book with additional material on the hijacking will be released soon. It contains extensive interviews on how government officials, including former External Affairs Minister Lalit Mansingh, dealt with the biggest crisis in Indian aviation history. The new edition also quotes people who were part of the negotiating team.” He revealed.
Srinjoy also spoke to other passengers who were on the flight and gave details about the kind of planning that was going on inside the flight as passengers and pilots brainstormed ways to trick the hijackers so that “at least some of us would be saved,” as one passenger told him.
Three more surprising stories
Srinjoy revealed three startling accounts he gathered while talking to passengers. One passenger told him that they were even planning to attack the hijackers in case they tried to blow up the plane. All of these and more have been included in the new edition.
“If there was any indication that the hijackers were going to blow up the plane, there was a plan to attack the hijackers and try to escape. The feeling was that some of us would die for sure and instead of all of us dying, some of us would escape,” one passenger told him.
In another heartbreaking incident, it was revealed that the body of Rupin Katyal, who was fatally stabbed by hijackers, was thrown out of a plane at Dubai airport. Katyal was returning from his honeymoon with his wife and all the passengers decided not to reveal the information to his wife.
“After Rupin Katyal was killed, the passengers, captain and crew had deliberately planned not to inform his wife about his death. The hijackers had killed him and dumped his body in the sea.”
After days of intense negotiations and mounting pressure, the Indian government reluctantly agreed to release the three militants in exchange for the safe release of the hostages.
“The kidnappers apologized right after the incident was resolved.” Srinjoy learned.
On December 31, 1999, the three terrorists flew to Kandahar and the hostages were eventually released. The hijackers had already released 27 passengers at Dubai airport. All other passengers and crew members were released six days later and returned home on a special flight.
Captain Sharan’s next flight to Kathmandu
It was a tough time for Captain Devi Sharan but the moment of reckoning for the captain was when he had to fly back to Kathmandu after some time.
““He felt unsafe, but he was happy to see strong security measures,” Srinjoy said.
Although 190 of the 191 passengers returned safely, the Kandahar hijacking had far-reaching consequences for India and the global fight against terrorism. The release of Maulana Masood Azhar proved to be a costly decision, as he founded Jaish-e-Mohammed, a terrorist organisation responsible for numerous attacks in India, including the 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament and the 2019 Pulwama attack.
The five hijackers were identified as Ibrahim Akhtar (from Bahawalpur), Shahid Akhtar Sayeed, Sunny Ahmed Qazi, Zahoor Mistry (all three from Karachi) and Shakir (from Sukkur). They had arrived in Nepal, HuM’s contact centre for the attacks in India, and boarded the plane at Kathmandu airport.
Srinjoy Chowdhury works with Times Now as a consulting editor and frequently writes on national security and diplomatic issues. He has written many other notable books including Dispatches from Kargil, in which he covered the 1999 Kargil war from the front. His other works include Football Fever: The Ultimate Quiz Book and The Puffin Quiz Book 3.
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