List of hijackings of Indian aeroplanes

1970s

1971 January 30 : An Indian Airlines plane on its way from Srinagar to Jammu was hijacked by Hashim Quereshi and Ashraf Quereshi of the JKLF, who took it to Lahore. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, then Foreign Minister of Pakistan rushed to Lahore and met the hijacker. On February 1, he persuaded them to release the crew and passengers who were then sent by road to Amritsar. The Government of India sought permission of Pakistan to send a replacement crew to fly the aircraft back to India. Pakistan authorities denied the permission, and supplied petrol to the hijackers with which they torched the aircraft on February 2. From Lahore Airport the hijackers were taken into a procession as heroes.

1976 September 10: Indian airlines plane Boeing 737 was hijacked from Palam Airport Delhi by a group of six terrorists from Kashmir: Syed Abdul Hameed Dewani along, Syed M Rafique, M Ahsan Rathore, Abdul Rashid Malik, Ghulam Rasool and Khawaja Ghulam Nabi Itoo. To refuel the plane, they took permission from CAA Lahore airport in Pakistan to land and refuel. The hijackers were caught in a trick during breakfast, being serving colourless tranquilliser with water. All six hijackers were taken in custody and the plane was sent back to India with 83 passengers on board.

1978: Friends Bholanath Pandey and Devendra Pandey hijacked an Indian Airlines plane on a domestic flight. They demanded the release of opposition leader Indira Gandhi (who had been arrested by Indian parliament) and the withdrawal of all the cases against her son Sanjay Gandhi. They carried only toy weapons. After keeping 132 passengers hostage for some hours, they surrendered in the presence of media.

1981 September 29: An Indian Airlines IC-423 plane on flight from Srinagar to Delhi was hijacked by Sikh extremists to get appropriate rights from India and taken to Lahore. Pakistan took commando action using its elite SSG, which cleared the plane and freed all passengers.[1]

1981 November 25: An Air India AI-224 Boeing 707 plane VT-DVB "Kamet" was from Rhodesia was on way to Mumbai, with 65 passengers and 13 crew members and was hijacked when it landed for refuelling at Mahe, Seychelles.The 43-strong team of mercenaries carrying an assortment of weapons demanded that the flight to be taken to Durban where the nightmare of the crew and the passengers ended after prolonged negotiations.[2]

1982 August 22: A lone militant, armed with a pistol and a hand grenade, hijacked a Boeing 737 on a scheduled flight from Bombay to New Delhi carrying 69 persons. Indian security forces killed the hijacker and rescued all passengers.

1982 August: An Indian Airlines flight from Jodhpur to Delhi was hijacked. The hijacked plane landed at Amritsar.

1984 July 6 : An Indian Airlines jet carrying 255 passengers and a crew of nine on flight from Srinagar to New Delhi was hijacked and forced to land in Lahore, Pakistan. The hijackers were reported to be armed with pistols, daggers and explosives. The hijackers' surrender to Pakistani authorities ended a 17-hour ordeal for the plane's passengers and crew, who remained aboard the A-300 Airbus in suffocating heat, with little food and water.[3]

1984 August 24: Seven young hijackers demanded an Indian Airlines jetliner, on a domestic flight from Chandigarh to Srinagar with 100 passengers on board, be flown to the United States. The plane was taken to Lahore, Karachi and finally to Dubai where the defense minister of UAE negotiated the release of the passengers. It was related to the secessionist struggle in the Indian state of Punjab. The hijacker was subsequently extradited by UAE authorities to India, who handed over the pistol recovered from the hijacker. Investigations revealed that the pistol was manufactured in Germany and was part of 75 pistols consigned from Germany to CAO, PO Box 1040, Islamabad. The Pakistani Foreign Ministry denied the accusation.

1993 April 24: Indian Airlines aircraft bound for Srinagar via Jammu from Delhi is hijacked. The hijacker wanted to take the plane to Lahore, but Pakistan authorities refused permission. The plane landed at Amritsar where the hijacker was killed and passengers freed.

1999-2000: Indian Airlines Flight 814, flying from Kathmandu, is hijacked and diverted to Kandahar. After a week-long stand-off, India agrees to release three jailed Kashmiri militants in exchange for the hostages. One hostage was stabbed to death and his body thrown on the tarmac as a "warning attack".

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