Those who were on board the hijacked IC 814 flight are reliving the nightmare after almost 25 years. First hand accounts of those on board have been surfacing online after the release of Netflix’s new series, IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack. One such first hand account that has resurfaced online is by flight engineer Anil K Jaggia. He had revealed that one of the hijackers, Burger alias Sunny Ahmed Qazi, apologised to him before they were deboarded.
Anil K Jaggia had penned a book on the hijack, which he titled IC 814 Hijacked: The Inside Story. The book, which he wrote with the assistance of investigative reporter Saurabh Shukla, revealed several inside stories that happened during the week long seige. One of them was his last interaction with the hijackers after the negotiations with the Indian government had concluded.
As reported by The Indian Express, Anil recalled that hijacker Burger had apologised to him for the inconvinience caused. In return, Anil wanted to give him a gift. “As he walked down the aisle exchanging pleasantries with the passengers, he came up beside me in seat 25B. ‘I’m sorry for causing you any trauma,’ he said sincerely. ‘I hope you won’t cause so much trouble to so many people again.’ ‘That’s exactly what my father used to say,’ he said ruefully. ‘It’s all the more reason you shouldn’t do something like this again,’ I reiterated. And then added, ‘After you’ve finished everything, come back to me. I have a gift for you,” Anil reportedly wrote in his book.
The report added that Burger returned to Anil at 3:30 pm and ‘respectfully’ asked for the promised gift. “I don’t know what he was expecting, but he seemed bemused at the red Eveready torch I placed in his palm. ‘Why this torch?’ he asked, turning it around in his hand. ‘This light will guide you to the correct path,’ I said. Burger thanked me and carried it away with him, but returned soon after. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said, ‘but the chief is not permitting us to take any gifts from the hostages,’” he recalled.
The names of the hijackers in the Netflix show caused an uproar on social media. Anubhav Sinha was accused of changing the names to non-Muslim names and sought a boycott. However, it was reported that the names were not changed. They were the alias names used by the hijackers. Netflix also clarified the same in the opening of every scene. The disclaimer was added after Netflix’s content head met the Information and Broadcasting Secretary Sanjay Jaju.
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