Zahoor Mistry, one of the five terrorists who hijacked the Indian plane IC-814 in Afghanistan’s Kandahar in 1999 has reportedly been killed in Pakistan’s Karachi. According to reports, Mistry who was living under a fake identity of Zahid Akhund In Karachi was shot dead in Karachi’s Akhtar Colony on March 1.
It is being learnt that Zahoor who was one of the five terrorists involved in highjacking the IC-814, was living as ‘Zahid Akhund’ in Pakistan for years and also owned the ‘Crescent Furniture’ store in Akhtar colony in Karachi. According to News 9, Pakistani media agency Geo TV had reported about the killing of a certain businessman in Karachi. According to the CCTV footage available, two people on a motorcycle were recceing the Akhtar colony in broad daylight until they entered a furniture warehouse to target the trader.
While GeoTV has not described details of the victim, sources in the Pakistani media have confirmed the identity of the person to be Zahoor Mistry. According to the source, the media has been asked not to report about the matter for some strange reason. The funeral prayer of Zahoor was by top Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists including Rauf Asgar who happens to be the brother of Jaish chief Masood Azhar.
The highjack of IC-814
On December 24, 1999, an Indian Airlines plane (IC-814) was highjacked by five terrorists belonging to the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen from Nepal. The plane which was supposed to reach Delhi made suspicious stops at Lahore, Amritsar and Dubai before being stationed at Afghanistan’s Kandahar which was under the control of the Taliban.
Around 178 people and 11 crew members aboard the plane were made hostages for a week while it ended after India was forced to release three JeM terrorists like Masood Azhar, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar from its custody. The hijackers demanded the release of thirty-five terrorists from Indian prisons, including the dreaded terrorist Maulana Masood Azhar in addition to US$200mn in cash. The hostage ended on December 31, 1999, after a team of Indian negotiators including the present NSA Ajit Doval agreed to free three terrorists.
