Investigation Summary
The hijacking began at approximately 16:53 IST when five armed men, using the codenames Chief, Burger, Doctor, Shankar, and Bhola, seized control of the Airbus A300. The hijackers had exploited security lapses at Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport to smuggle grenades, knives, and pistols on board. The aircraft first landed at Amritsar, India, where a lack of decisive action by local authorities and delays in the arrival of the National Security Guards (NSG) allowed the hijackers to force a takeoff. During the subsequent flight toward Lahore and Dubai, the hijackers fatally stabbed passenger Rupin Katyal, who succumbed to his injuries before the aircraft reached Dubai. After a brief stop in Lahore, Pakistan, and a refueling stop at Al-Minhad Air Base in Dubai (where 27 hostages and Katyal's body were released), the plane arrived in Kandahar on December 25. The site was then under Taliban control. Negotiations were complicated by India's lack of diplomatic recognition of the Taliban regime and the presence of Taliban forces surrounding the aircraft, which prevented any military rescue operation. The hijackers initially demanded $200 million and the release of 36 militants, but eventually settled for the release of three high-profile prisoners: Masood Azhar, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, and Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar.
Final Conclusions
The hijacking was orchestrated by Harkat-ul-Mujahideen with logistical support provided by associates in Mumbai and Kathmandu. The five hijackers were later identified by Indian authorities as Ibrahim Athar, Mistri Zahoor Ibrahim, Shahid Akhtar Sayed, Shakir, and Sunny Ahmed Qazi. The Indian Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) eventually charged ten individuals, including the five hijackers and their accomplices. In 2008, a special court sentenced three conspirators (Abdul Latif, Dilip Kumar Bhujel, and Yusuf Nepali) to life imprisonment. However, in 2014, the Punjab and Haryana High Court acquitted Bhujel and Nepali of the hijacking conspiracy, upholding their convictions only under the Arms Act, while Latif's life sentence was maintained. The five hijackers and two other Pakistani nationals involved in the conspiracy were never apprehended and are believed to be in Pakistan. The three militants released by India subsequently founded or joined major terrorist organizations, including Jaish-e-Mohammed.
Photographic Evidence (1)
Video Analysis
India's WORST Hijacking - The Kandahar Story! — A detailed breakdown of the IC814 hijacking, covering the security failures in Kathmandu, the tense landings in Amritsar and Lahore, and the final negotiations in Kandahar.
If playback is blocked, the owner has disabled embedding — use the link above.
Systems & Failure Modes
Transponder
Captain Sharan surreptitiously set the transponder to code 7500, the international emergency code for hijacking, to alert Indian ATC.
Airport Security (Kathmandu)
Lax screening protocols at Tribhuvan International Airport allowed the hijackers to bypass X-ray machines and carry weapons onto the flight.
Interesting Facts
- 01The hijackers used the codenames Chief, Burger, Doctor, Shankar, and Bhola.
- 02The aircraft's engine was run continuously in Kandahar to provide heat and light as temperatures dropped at night.
- 03The Taliban positioned tanks and rocket launchers around the aircraft to prevent an Indian rescue mission.
- 04The hijacking is considered part of the al-Qaeda linked millennium attack plots of late 1999.
- 05The aircraft, VT-EDW, was eventually returned to Indian Airlines and scrapped in December 2003.
Safety Actions & Advisories
CISF Airport Security Takeover
In January 2000, the security of Indian airports was transferred to the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) to standardize and professionalize screening.
Kathmandu Security Enhancements
Nepal installed additional X-ray machines and permitted final passenger screenings by Indian security personnel for flights to India.
Known Controversies & Unanswered Questions
Taliban and ISI Involvement
Reference ↗Indian authorities and military analysts alleged that the Taliban's deployment of forces around the plane was intended to protect the hijackers from an Indian commando raid rather than to protect the hostages.
Location
ACCIDENT SITE · Coordinates taken from the wikipedia geotag.