Real story behind Netflix's 'IC814: The Kandahar Hijack'
On Thursday, Netflix India released its slate for 2024. Among the upcoming movies and series is Bheed director Anubhav Sinha's show IC814: The Kandahar Hijack. Based on a true story, it will recount the dreadful 1999 hijacking of an Indian Airlines Airbus that lasted seven days. Sinha has pulled off a casting coup with Naseeruddin Shah, Vijay Varma, Manoj Pahwa, Kumud Mishra, and Aditya Srivastava, among others. As we await the show, let's revisit the incident that inspired it.
Scheduled for Kathmandu to Delhi but diverted to different cities
On December 24, 1999, Indian Airlines Flight IC-814 (Kathmandu to Delhi) was hijacked by five terrorists linked to extremist group Harkat-ul-Mujahideen. With over 170 passengers and 10-15 crew members aboard, the aircraft was diverted to locations such as Amritsar and Lahore, before ultimately touching down in Kandahar, Afghanistan, then ruled by the terrorist-extremist group Taliban. The hijackers released 27 passengers in Dubai but fatally stabbed one and wounded others.
Everything was done for three terrorists' freedom
As ransom, the hijackers demanded the release of three imprisoned terrorists in India, including Maulana Masood Azhar (the founder of Jaish-e-Mohammed), HuM member-terrorist Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, and Kashmiri militant Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar. With uncertainty surrounding the well-being of the hostages and time not on their side, the Indian government reluctantly agreed to their demands, freeing the militants in exchange for the passengers. The fear-stricken hostages endured a week of psychological and physical torment in Kandahar, facing deplorable conditions.
Incident raised alarms about aviation security, Indian diplomacy
The IC-814 hijacking revealed glaring gaps in aviation security and was a major diplomatic blow to the government, then led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Governments have since ramped up efforts to improve airport security protocols, intelligence sharing, and coordination. "The five hijackers who were Pakistani nationals have remained beyond the reach of law," ML Sharma, the then joint director of the CBI told ET. "But their three collaborators in India were duly punished." One reportedly received life imprisonment.
The terrorists, as expected, went on to do deadly deeds
Azhar launched a series of deadly attacks, including on the Parliament in December 2001, the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, and the Pathankot airbase attack in January 2016. Sheikh was one of the orchestrators of the 9/11 attacks in the US and also executed American journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002. He was arrested in 2002 by Pakistani agencies and has reportedly been in prison ever since. Zargar has allegedly been training militants in PoK after being released by the Indian government.
In media: Books and films based on this incident
Captain Devi Sharan, who piloted the ill-fated flight of "India's longest hijack," alongside first officer Rajinder Kumar and flight engineer Anil Kumar Jaggia, recounted the horror in his book Flight into Fear - The Captain's Story. Jaggia also penned a book titled IC 814 Hijacked! The Inside Story, while flight purser Anil Sharma shared his experience in IA's Terror Trail. Rohit Shetty's Zameen and Kunal Shivdasani's Hijack are also loosely based on this incident.
Sinha on how he researched for the project
Sharing his preparation for the show, Sinha said, "I realized it is a very complex story, and a lot of things happened in those seven days, and not many people know about it. I met a lot of officers, passengers, the pilot, and there was a lot more to share. We have put it all in the show." "We had to make it factually correct and yet dramatic and engaging...It was an interesting process."
