Hang Kandahar hijacker Latif, upset CBI to HC

Chandigarh: Just like the nation, the CBI too is simmering with rage at terrorists and in an unprecedented action has now moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking death for Abdul Latif, one of the main accused in the Kandahar hijack case of December 24, 1999.
Bitter that Latif, in a Punjab jail right now (TOI doesn't want to reveal his exact location for security reasons) has been sentenced to life by a Patiala sessions court, the CBI in its petition to the high court said, "Justice demands that courts should impose punishment befitting the crime so that courts reflect public abhorrence of the crime. Latif deserves death in public interest and in interest of justice as his existence will be a threat to the society and the world." In a crucial note, the central agency has emphasized in its plea that India needs to dispel the impression that it is a soft state.
The case is scheduled for hearing on Friday (today).
Latif, a Mumbai resident and allegedly a member of Pakistan-based Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, was sentenced to life imprisonment by a Patiala sessions judge (a specially designated court under anti-hijacking Act) on February 5, 2008, for "conspiring in and abetting of the hijacking of an Indian Airlines-IC-814 Kathmandu-New Delhi flight on December 24, 1999''. The plane had 179 passengers and 11 crewmembers on board. The hijackers had ruthlessly stabbed passenger Rupin Katyal to death and gravely injured another, Satnam Singh.
According to CBI, the hijacking was masterminded by various Pakistan groups to be used as a bargaining chip for securing release of dreaded terrorists like Maulana Masood Azhar, Omar Sheikh and Mohammad Zargar from an Indian jail. Maulana's name, incidentally, has cropped up again with India asking Pakistan to hand him over after the Mumbai attacks of November 26.
CBI has also claimed that Latif not only provided logistical support to the Pakistani hijackers but ensured their safe transit to Nepal. Post hijacking, Latif passed on a message to the BBC, London, voicing their demands and the impending threat to passengers' lives.
19/12/08 Vishal Sharma/Times of India

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Air India Domestic Dec 2008, Foreign Dec 2008, NACIL Dec 2008, Safety Dec 2008