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A hijacker goes down memory lane

''If the authorities in Amritsar had tried to prevent the take-off of the hijacked Indian Airlines flight IC 814 on December 24, the hijackers would have definitely harmed the hostages.''

These are the words of Satnam Singh, vice-president Dal Khalsa. He should know, for he and an associate of his had hijacked an Indian Airlines plane in 1981, during the height of militancy in Punjab. They had taken the Delhi-Srinagar flight to Lahore, where they surrendered after a Pakistani crack commando team broke into the aircraft.

Satnam Singh said the manner in which IC 814 hijackers were acting at the Amritsar airport indicated desperation. ''It would have been suicidal to provoke them,'' he said.

He said he could understand the ordeal the hostages of IC 814 were undergoing.

Narrating his own experience, he said it was not their intention to harm a single person. ''Had Pakistani commandos not overpowered us, we would have prolonged our stay and surrendered ultimately.''

He said if the hijackers (of IC 814) harm the hostages their ultimate objective would be defeated. Satnam Singh, returned to India last year after spending 13 years in a Pakistani jail.

He revealed that ten days prior to the hijacking, he along with his associate, who is currently in Pakistan, had conducted a dry run on an Amritsar-Srinagar Indian Airlines flight and found that it was difficult to smuggle in even small arms. They had finally decided to use their kirpans.

UNI

NIGHTMARE ON FLIGHT 814
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