Sheikh was one of the terrorists freed by India along with Masood Azhar in 1999 to secure the release of passengers of the hijacked Indian Airlines flight IC-814.
On December 31, 1999, after seven days, the hostage crisis came to an end as India agreed to release three dreaded terrorists including Masood Azhar, the founder of Jaish-e-Mohammed.
An undated video of Shoaib Akhtar is doing the rounds on the internet in which he is endorsing the Islamic supremacist doctrine of Ghazwa-e-Hind, the supposed domination of India by Islamic forces