Canada bars entry to Indian Airlines hijacker

Toronto: Canada has refused to re-admit the mastermind of the 1984 Indian Airline hijacking who was deported to India last year.
Parminder Singh Saini, 47, who was the leader of five Sikh militants who hijacked the Srinagar-Delhi flight to Lahore July 6, 1984, had filed a plea in a federal court Feb 3 to seek re-entry into Canada.
However, in its ruling Feb 9, the court dismissed Saini's plea, deeming him a threat to public security, according to a report.
Saini, who took refuge in Canada in 1995, was put on the plane back to India in January last year.
He led the five militants in hijacking the Indian Airlines flight to Lahore, with 255 passengers.
The hijack drama ended after a 17-hour stand-off, with the hijackers surrendering to the Pakistani authorities.
After a trial in Pakistan, Saini was sentenced to death by a Lahore court. But the death sentence was commuted to life term. He was released after 10 years and asked to leave Pakistan.
In 1995, Saini entered Canada illegally under the name of Balbir Singh with a fake Afghan passport arranged by the Pakistanis. He maintained that he lied about his identity for fear of being deported to India.
24/02/11 Gurmukh Singh/IANS/Sify

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

Categories: Air India Domestic Feb 2011, Air India Feb 2011, Foreign Feb 2011