Hijacking of IC-814
What was the hijacking of IC-814?
Who were the hijackers of IC-814?
What were the demands of the hijackers of IC-814?
Were any hostages killed during the hijacking of IC-814?
What was the outcome of the hijacking of IC-814?
Has the hijacking of IC-814 been represented in popular culture?
The hijacking of IC-814 was the takeover of an Indian Airlines flight on December 24, 1999, by five armed militants linked to the Pakistan-based Islamist group Harakat-ul-Mujahideen (also called Harakat-ul-Ansar). The Airbus A300 aircraft, which was carrying about 190 people from Kathmandu, Nepal, to New Delhi, was diverted to multiple locations, including Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates, before landing in Kandahār, Afghanistan (then under Taliban control). The standoff ended on December 31, when the Indian government released three jailed militants, including Masood Azhar (who later founded Jaish-e-Mohammed), in exchange for the return of hostages.
A deadly diversion
Indian Airlines flight IC-814 took off from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu about 4:00 pm Indian Standard Time (IST) on December 24, 1999. For the passengers and crew, the journey quickly turned into a nightmare that lasted from December 24 to December 31, 1999. Shortly after entering Indian airspace, on what was supposed to be a two-hour flight from Kathmandu to New Delhi, a masked man armed with a grenade and a revolver stormed the cockpit and ordered the pilot, Devi Sharan, to divert the flight toward Lahore, Pakistan. After being denied entry into Pakistani airspace, the flight landed about three hours later at the Raja Sansi Airport (now called Sri Guru Ram Das Ji International Airport) in Amritsar, in the Indian state of Punjab, for refueling. While the aircraft waited for fuel, the hijackers grew agitated and threatened to start killing passengers if the plane did not take off soon. During the tense halt (which lasted about an hour), they began assaulting passengers and stabbed 25-year-old Rupin Katyal, who later died from his injuries.
Rupin Katyal, aged 25, had boarded IC-814 with his wife, Rachna, as part of their honeymoon. They were separated when the hijackers moved Katyal and nine other passengers from economy to business class. During the standoff in Amritsar, the hijackers grew angry over the delay in refueling and stabbed Katyal. He later succumbed to his injuries and was the only fatality in the weeklong crisis. Rachna Katyal became aware of her husband’s fate only after she was released. According to a police report, his body had multiple stab wounds, including in the chest and face.
The hijackers then ordered the pilot to depart Amritsar without refueling. After eventually receiving clearance from Pakistani authorities, the aircraft landed at Lahore, where it was refueled. Acting on further orders, the flight headed for Kabul, Afghanistan, but was denied entry. The plane then changed course to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where it landed in the early hours of December 25 at the Al Minhad Air Base. Following discussions with Emirati authorities, the plane was once again refueled, and 27 passengers—mostly women, children, and the injured—were released, along with the body of Katyal. After a few hours in Dubai, the hijackers once again instructed the pilot to proceed to Afghanistan.
Landing in Kandahār
IC-814 touched down in Kandahār on the morning of December 25 and was immediately surrounded by armed Taliban soldiers. Although the hostages were provided food and water, the conditions in the flight cabin were reportedly squalid. A United Nations team established contact with the Taliban and the hijackers and urged them to ensure the humane treatment of hostages. On December 27 India dispatched a team of negotiators, including intelligence agents, and a relief crew to Kandahār.
Discussions between the hijackers and negotiators began the same day. The hijackers initially demanded the release of Masood Azhar in exchange for the safe return of some of the hostages. When the Indian negotiators rejected this demand, the hijackers presented a revised list of three major demands in exchange for the release of all remaining hostages:
- The release of 36 militants, including Masood Azhar, jailed in India.
- The body of Sajjad Afghani (a Harakat-ul-Mujahideen militant who was killed in 1999 while trying to escape an Indian jail in Jammu and Kashmir).
- Payment of $200 million in cash.
The Indian government’s release of three militants—Masood Azhar, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, and Mushtaq Zargar—had far-reaching consequences. Within a month of his release, Azhar declared war on India and founded Jaish-e-Mohammed to recruit and train individuals to fight Indian forces in Kashmir. The group was behind the 2001 attack of the Indian Parliament and other acts of violence in India that killed hundreds of people. Sheikh was reported to be involved in the kidnapping and murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002 in Pakistan.
However, the Taliban told the hijackers to drop their demands for $200 million in cash and the body of Afghani because the demands were viewed by the Taliban as un-Islamic. The hijackers then demanded the release of Azhar in exchange for 15 hostages. This too was rejected by the Indian negotiators. Eventually the hijackers and the Indian government came to an agreement. The hijackers agreed to return all the hostages in exchange for the release of three militants held in India: Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh (a British national who was sent to jail in 1994 for kidnapping Western tourists in Kashmir), Mushtaq Zargar (a Kashmiri militant), and Masood Azhar. Azhar featured in all the hijackers’ demands because he was a key Islamist cleric and recruiter whose release was expected to reinvigorate militant operations, especially in Kashmir. One of the suspected hijackers, Ibrahim Athar, was reportedly Azhar’s brother. Indian authorities identified another of Azhar’s brothers, Abdul Rauf Azhar, and his brother-in-law Yusuf Azhar as key planners of the hijacking.
On December 31 Jaswant Singh, India’s external affairs minister, arrived in Kandahār with the three prisoners. Two special flights were arranged by the Indian government to bring back the freed hostages. All the remaining hostages were released on the same day, and the hijackers, along with the freed militants, were allowed to leave. IC-814 returned to India on January 1, 2000, and the aircraft continued flying under Indian Airlines until it was retired in 2002 and was reportedly scrapped the following year.
Investigation
An investigation of the planning and execution of the hijacking began shortly after Indian authorities became aware that IC-814 was seized. On December 25 Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee vowed that his government “will not bend before such a show of terror.” He said:
This hijacking is an act of terrorism by desperate men who have no respect for human lives and human rights. It has brought home with full impact the horror of terrorism that the country faces.
In 2024 a six-episode miniseries titled IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack was released on Netflix. The show is a dramatized retelling of the 1999 hijacking based on the book Flight into Fear: The Captain’s Story (2000) by Devi Sharan, the captain of IC-814, and Srinjoy Chowdhury. The 2025 film Dhurandhar, starring Ranveer Singh, centers on India’s external intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) and references the incident, incorporating elements of the hijacking into its broader fictional espionage narrative.
On December 30, 1999, the Indian police arrested Mohammed Iqbal, Mohammed Rehan, Yusuf Nepali, Dilip Kumar Bhujel, and Abdul Latif Momin in Mumbai. They were accused of aiding the hijackers and were allegedly linked to the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Pakistan’s main intelligence agency, and Harakat-ul-Mujahideen. About the same time officials released the names of the five suspected hijackers: Ibrahim Athar, Mistri Zahoor Ibrahim, Shahid Akhtar Sayed, Shakir, and Sunny Ahmed Qazi.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), India’s domestic crime investigation agency, investigated the case and claimed that the conspiracy to hijack an Indian Airlines flight was conceived in mid-1998. The CBI later charged 10 individuals, including Momin, Bhujel, and Nepali, for their involvement. The other 7 were Pakistani nationals, 5 of whom were the suspected hijackers. However, most of the accused, including the hijackers, could not be arrested as they were believed to be in hiding in Pakistan.
Momin, Bhujel, and Nepali were put on trial. In 2008 a special court sentenced the three to life imprisonment for multiple offenses, including the illegal possession of arms and offenses related to hijacking. It remains unclear what happened to the other two men, Rehan and Iqbal.
- Date:
- December 24, 1999 - December 31, 1999
- Location:
- Afghanistan
- Kandahār
In 2014 the Punjab and Haryana High Court acquitted Bhujel and Nepali of all charges, including the conspiracy to hijack the aircraft, except for the possession and transfer of illegal arms under India’s Arms Act. The court upheld Momin’s life imprisonment for aiding the hijackers and facilitating the broader hijacking conspiracy. In 2020 Momin was acquitted by a Mumbai court in a passport forgery case linked to the hijacking of IC-814. However, this did not affect his life sentence.
Timeline of the hijacking
December 24, 1999- About 4:00 pm IST: Indian Airlines flight IC-814 departed Kathmandu, Nepal, for New Delhi.
- 4:53 pm IST: Shortly after it entered Indian airspace, five armed men hijacked the plane and directed the pilot to fly to Lahore, Pakistan.
- 7:00 pm IST: After being denied permission to land in Lahore, the plane landed in Amritsar, India, for refueling.
- Stabbing: In Amritsar, angered by the delay in refueling, one of the hijackers stabbed passenger Rupin Katyal, who later died.
- 7:49 pm IST: The aircraft left Amritsar without refueling.
- 8:01 pm IST: The aircraft landed in Lahore after receiving permission from Pakistani authorities. IC-814 was refueled at Lahore.
- 10:32 pm IST: The aircraft left Lahore for Kabul, Afghanistan.
- Entry denied: The aircraft was denied entry into Kabul, citing a lack of night-landing facilities. Consequently, the plane changed course to Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
- 1:32 am IST: The plane landed at the Al Minhad Air Base near Dubai.
- 27 passengers released: After discussions with Emirati authorities, the plane was refueled, and 27 passengers—mostly women, children, and the injured—were released, along with the body of Katyal.
- 6:20 am IST: After a few hours in Dubai, the aircraft took off for Kandahār, Afghanistan.
- 8:33 am IST: The plane landed in Kandahār, where it was immediately surrounded by Taliban soldiers.
- United Nations involvement: A United Nations team established contact with the Taliban and the hijackers.
- India dispatched a team of negotiators, including intelligence agents, and a relief team to Kandahār.
- Negotiations between hijackers and Indian officials began.
- After going back and forth on their demands, the hijackers finally settled on the release of Masood Azhar and two other militants imprisoned in India in exchange for all remaining hostages.
- Indian External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh traveled to Kandahār with the three militants.
- The three militants were released in exchange for all remaining hostages.
- The hijackers were allowed by the Taliban to leave Kandahār with the freed militants.