Kandahar ‘chief’ hijacker behind plot to abduct Rahul Gandhi

Eight years after he had India on tenterhooks for a week, IC-814 principal hijacker Ibrahim Athar, referred to as “chief” during the hijack, has reappeared on the Indian terror scene as the mastermind, facilitator and trainer of the foiled Jaish-e-Mohammed operation to abduct Rahul Gandhi.
Younger brother of Jaish head Maulana Masood Azhar, the dangerous Athar is learnt to have imparted training to the three militants — Mohammed Abid, Yusuf and Mirza Rashid — nabbed by UP police.
Athar led the IC-814 hijack, then affiliated to the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, and was referred to as “chief” during the hijack, and along with four other accomplices hijacked this Indian Airlines plane mid-air from Kathmandu to Kandahar with stops at Amritsar, Lahore and Dubai.
In a week long drama, he was successful in obtaining the release of three dreaded terrorists — brother Masood Azhar, Syed Omar Sheikh and Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar. He was responsible for the killing of Rippan Katyal, one of the IC-814 passengers.
19/11/07 Pranab Dhal Samanta/Indian Express

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Categories: Air India Domestic Nov 2007, NACIL Nov 2007, Safety Nov 2007