1984 Indian Airlines hijacker deported, CBI takes custody

1984 Indian Airlines hijacker deported, CBI takes custody

NEW DELHI: Forty-six-year-old Sikh militant Parminder Singh Saini, who had masterminded the hijack of an Indian Airlines plane to Pakistan in 1984, arrived at the IGI Airport on Wednesday after deportation from Canada. He was escorted by officials with the Canadian Border Security Agency, India's National Investigation Authority as well as the Central Bureau of Investigation. He can be slapped with fresh charges from the government. As reported through The Times Of India.

Saini, in addition to his four accomplices who claimed to be members belonging to the All India Sikh Students Federation, hijacked an Indian Airlines Srinagar-New Delhi flight with 260 passengers on board to Lahore in Pakistan on July 5, 1984. The five terrorists fired inside the cockpit and kept passengers hostage for nearly 15 hours demanding that the Indian government release some jailed Khalistani terrorists. They, however, surrendered after Pakistani security forces stormed the aircraft.

Saini was sentenced to death by a Lahore court however it was commuted to life sentence in 1988. "He was released in 1994 and was asked to leave Pakistan.In 1995, Saini managed to enter Canada illegally under the BalbirSingh using a fake Afghan passport reportedly arranged in Pakistan. He was caught by Canadian authorities nine months later," said an NIA official.

Saini fought his own case in Canada against deportation arguing that he deserved an opportunity to live a normal life. But his application was rejected.