Four Pakistanis among hijackers
27 December 1999
THE Indian Government today disclosed the names of the hijackers who include four Pakistanis. They are S A Qazi, Ahmed Sheikh, Ibrahim Mistry and Sayed Akhtar Syed (all Pakistanis), Gopal Tamrakar, a Nepali said to be a smuggler and an unidentified Afghan.

Hijackers Came from Pakistan
0700 IST, 27 December 1999
New Delhi: Preliminary investigations suggest that the hijackers had arrived at Kathmandu on a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight just hours before re-boarding IC 814. Nepalese inquiry sources earlier said in Kathmandu that four of the five armed hijackers of an Indian plane had arrived in the Nepalese capital on Friday on the PIA flight PK-806 from Karachi, in Pakistan. The four were allowed to board the Indian Airlines Airbus A300, which they later hijacked, without undergoing immigration and security formalities, a source in the Nepalese investigating committee said. Only the name of the fifth passenger along with whom the four travelled was listed in the Indian Airlines manifest.

Pakistan`s Airport Security Force on Sunday, 26 December, that: "It is a false and baseless charge that any weapon reached Kathmandu through this (PIA) flight. Our security checks are potent and comprehensive, so there is no possibility that any weapon passed through." The Pakistan government has also denounced the Indian attempts to implicate Pakistan. Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar on behalf of the government of Pakistan read out a statement on 26 December: "The government of Pakistan has already expressed its deep regret at the tirade of baseless and malicious allegations launched by the Indian media. Now the Indian government has taken it upon itself to make such motivated allegations. The Government of Pakistan wishes to make it clear that it has no sympathy with desperate individual acts and is completely and unequivocally opposed to all acts of terrorism, including hijacking and hostage taking."

Later that day (2350), Pakistan Foreign minister Sattar went a step further and insinuated that India had cooked up the entire hijacking drama. The Pakistani government has said that the hijacking of Indian airlines airbus while on a flight from Kathmandu to New Delhi on Friday "involves a preconceived plan by a foreign intelligence agency just like the 1971 Indian managed Ganga plane hijacking", said sources Sunday. "The Indian plane hijacking incident is becoming a mystery and the part played by the pilot of the aircraft and the Indian airline`s staff at Kathmandu is questionable" asserted Pakistani Foreign Minister Mr. Abdul Sattar while addressing a press conference in Islamabad on Sunday night. He said that the names and identity of the hijackers were known to the Indian Airlines office in Kathmandu, and asked why did India refused the plane to land at Lucknow and why India asked Pakistan government not to allow the hijacked aircraft to fly out of Lahore airport on Friday evening, despite the fact that the Indian authorities permitted the said plane to fly out of Amritsar after one-hour stopover earlier the same evening.

Pakistan denies Indian media reports about Pakistani nationals
ISLAMABAD, Dec 27: Pakistan today strongly denied the announcement made by the Indian media of the names of four so-called Pakistani nationals as the latest twist to the Indian canard of Pakistan`s involvement in Indian plane hijacking. "The latest twist to the Indian canard of Pakistan`s involvement in the Indian plane hijacking is the announcement by the Indian media of the names of four so-called Pakistani nationals," a Foreign Spokesman said in a statement. "Curiously the Indian media which has regularly announced the number of the people of various nationalities on board the aircraft has in the last four days never mentioned the presence of any Pakistani among them," he added. They seem to have suddenly discovered Pakistanis on board. The list of the persons on board,continuously broadcast by the Indian media until this evening is as follows: 154 Indians
12 Europeans
2 North Americans
8 Nepalese
1 Japanese
1 Australian

Did Pakistani Authorities delay Passage of India Relief Plane?
The Indian media is also alleging that the delay caused by the Pakistani authorities in granting over-flight permission to the Indian aircraft headed to Kandahar resulted in the cancellation of the flight. This is a false allegation. A verbal Indian request for flight clearance was received on telephone at noon. The flight clearance was immediately granted. Subsequently, the Indians sent a written request as required by the rules including the necessary particulars two hours later to which a written permission was granted immediately, the statement added. (APP)