Pak diplomat hijack IA plane

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>vaidika1008 (AT) hotmail (DOT) com >[bJP News]: Pak diplomat was involved in

the hijacking of IA plane the hijacking of IA plane >Fri, 13 Apr 2001

15:12:25 -0400 > >Title: Pak diplomat was involved in > the hijacking of IA

plane >Author: The Times of India News Service >Publication: Times of India

>April 13, 2001 > > NEW DELHI: Pakistani diplomat Mohammed > Arshad

Cheema who was caught with 16 kg of > RDX in Nepal was also involved in the >

hijacking of Indian Airlines airbus IC 814 in > December 1999, home ministry

sources said > here on Thursday. > > The first secretary at the Pakistani

Embassy in > Nepal, Mohamad Arshad, was caught with > explosives Thursday in a

bungalow in > Baneshwor near downtown Kathmandu after > the Nepales police

raided the house. > > Home ministry sources here expressed > satisfaction on

their long standing claim based > on intelligence input that Nepal is the

hot-bed > of ISI operation got upheld with the > red-handed arrest of a

Pakistani diplomat there > with 16 kgs of RDX. > > Sources told 'The Times of

India' that > intelligence agencies had a opened dossiers on > suspected ISI

agents and their activities long > before the hijacking of the Indian Airlines

IC > 814. > > According to intelligence inputs, on December > 24, 1999, a

vehicle from the Pakistan embassy > had driven to Tribhuvan Airport, Kandhmandu

> carrying Pakistani first secretary Mohammed > Arshad Cheema, his assistant Zia

Ansari and a > Nepali Muslim, Abdul Rias Khan, two airport > officials noted

down their registration number. > > Officials had also noticed that the first >

secretary had a briefcase. They walked into the > departure lounge unchecked

using their > diplomatic immunity clearance. One of the > Pakistani officials

handed over the briefcase to > the hijacker. Two Nepali airport staff officers

> had said that Cheema did not have the > briefcase when he returned from the

airport. > > This is not the first time Cheema, an ISI man > in the Pakistan

embassy in Kathmandu, was > found involved in such activities, sources said. >

He was also suspected to be actively involved > in the supply of counterfeit

Indian currencies > of Rs 500 denominations. Again in October > 1998, Yakeer

Singh, a Sikh militant who was > arrested in Kathmandu with 20 kg of RDX, >

confessed that Cheema had handed him the > packet, sources said. > > On

December 24, 1999 when the Indian > airlines was hijacked, intelligence

gatherers > had reported that five Pakistani nationals > walked straight out

from the Pakistan > International Airlines aircraft into an Indian > Airlines

Airbus sitting on the tarmac. After the > hijackers took control of the plane,

with 178 > passengers and 11 crew abroad it was > commandeered in a zig zag

trip to the Middle > East and back and finally to Kandahar in > Afghanista. A

25 year old Rippan Katyal a > newly married boy was ruthlessly killed by the >

hijackers in the presence of his helpless wife. > > There were six hijacker

aboard the plane, four > were Pakistanis, one Nepalese and one from >

Afghanistan. The hijackers demanded the > release of Pakistani Islamic cleric

Maulana > Masood Azhar who has been a high security > jail since 1994 and a

number of other > militants. > > In the aftermath of the hijacking the >

Indo-Nepali ties were severely strained > because Nepal refused to accept any >

responsibility. Nepal also refused to > acknowledge or crackdown on the ISI,

which > were flourishing in their country. However > after New Delhi imposed

travel restrictions on > Indian travelling there, Nepal quickly towed > the

line to prevent their tourist economy from > collapsing. > > Security was

markedly improved at all > Nepalese airport and the army came down hard > on

the ISI. A few Pakistani embassy officials > were quietly expelled. Indian

Civil Aviation > underwent several security upgrades. Indian > aircraft now

carry security air marshalls to > prevent any such hijacking. > > However

despite an international uproar on the > hijacking and Pakistan coming in for

criticism > for its abetment in the crime based on > irrefutable evidence,

Pakistan refuses to hand > over the hijackers. They claim the hijackers > have

committed no crime and broken no > Pakistani laws. One of the released

militants > Masood Azhar roams freely in Pakistan and > has even formed a

militant group.

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