PTI

Patiala, Feb 5: Three persons involved in the hijack of the Indian airlines aircraft to Kandahar in Afghanistan in December 1999 were convicted and sentenced to life by a city court on charges including murder and conspiracy.

Abdul Latif Adam Momin alias Abdul Rehman alias Patel, Yusuf Nepali and Dalip Bhujail were sentenced by sessions judge Inderjit Singh Walia, designated as the anti-hijacking court under provisions of IPC and anti-hijacking law. CBI had demanded capital punishment for Latif.

The ill-fated IC-814 was hijacked on December 24, 1999 while flying over Lucknow when it was on its way to Delhi from Kathmandu and the three were accused of helping the hijackers by arranging their stay, passport, tickets and with arms and ammunition.

During a week of suspense, five hijackers - Ibrahim Athar (brother of Jash-e-Mohammed Chief Masood Azhar), Sunny Ahmed Qazi, SA Sayed alias doctor, ZI Mistri alias Bhola and RG Verma alias Shakir - who commandeered aircraft to Kandahar negotiated with Indian officials with threats to blow up the aircraft and successfully got Azhar and two other dreaded terrorist released from jails in India for release of passengers.

Defence counsel contended that the three have been made a scapegoat. While Nepali has been accused by the CBI as the person who handed over passport and tickets to the hijackers, Bhujbal was accused by the investigating agency of providing them with arms and ammunition.

CBI had charged 10 people out of which seven including the five hijackers were still absconding and are in Pakistan. An interpol red corner notice has been issued against all seven.

Besides Azhar, the other two released in exchange were Omar Sayeed Sheikh (now in Pakistan prison for killing wall street journal journalist Daniel Pearl) and Mushtaq Zargar, Chief of Al-Umar Mujahdeen militant outfit.

The judge awarded the three-life imprisonment for murder under section 302 and for using violence in aircraft after hijacking under section 5 of anti-hijacking act. They were also fined Rs 10,000.

Abdul Latif, Bhujbal and Yusuf Nepali were awarded seven years RI for attempt to murder under section 307, five-year prison term for kidnapping and abduction under section 363 and also for wrongful confinement under section 342.

The court also awarded five-year term for forgery under section 467 besides a fine of Rs 2,000. The trio was also given a three-year sentence for criminal intimidation under section 506 and also slapped with a fine of Rs 2000.

The accused were also awarded three years jail term under section 25 of the arms act relating to possessing of illegal weapons besides being convicted under section 120-B relating to conspiracy.

The court proceedings were held inside the high security central jail. Media persons were not allowed inside the jail here where the three conspirators Abdul Latif, Dalip Kumar and Yusuf Nepali are lodged since their arrest about eight years back in connection with the hijacking. The briefing was done outside the prison by the defence lawyers.

The judge had on January 18 reserved the judgment for January 29 and then for February 5 after the conclusion of the arguments in the case of the hijacking of Indian airlines Kathmandu New Delhi flight IC-814 to Kandahar in Afghanistan in 1999.