Hijackers in Pak. military base?

By Atul Aneja

NEW DELHI, JAN. 4. After remaining in Afghanistan for nearly four days after the hijack drama, the five hijackers and the three extremists released by India may have moved to a Pakistani military facility in Zhob.

According to a communication intercept on Monday night, the Pakistani military has instructed one of its forward locations that the five hijackers and three insurgents, which include Masood Azhar, Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar and Ahmed Sayeed Omar Sheikh, be brought to its ``Zhob headquarters'' after they crossed the Durand Line. It is learnt that Zhob is the headquarters of a Pakistani Army division and is located north of Quetta.

Quetta, which borders Kandahar, is a major military base in the North West Frontier Province. It has the wherewithal to provide the necessary logistical support to shift the eight desperados.

While Pakistan appears to have masterminded the hijacking, the connivance of the Taliban in the plot is now becoming increasingly evident. Contrary to the view that the hijackers fled to Quetta after the hijacking was over, they actually stayed in a ``guest house'' in Kandahar, diplomatic sources here said. The sources confirmed that a European diplomat had spotted them at this location.

The Taliban's involvement has also become visible in other ways. Inquiries here revealed that the Taliban played a key role in removing explosives placed in a ``blue and white'' suitcase which only they recognised, apart from the hijackers. It is learnt that Indian authorities had got wind of the possibility of the presence of a bag full of explosives on board the plane. Consequently, while two aircraft carrying the hostages and officials took off, a decision was taken that the hijacked plane would remain on the ground till it was thoroughly ``cleansed.''

The Indian negotiating team, it is understood, impressed upon the Taliban authorities that they would be entirely responsible for any mishap on the plane once it got airborne. The tough talking is believed to have paid dividends and a Taliban team, as a result, got the ``hold'' of the airbus opened. After taking out five to six suitcases, it identified and removed the blue and white baggage in which RDX was reportedly packed. Incidentally, this bag was checked in by one of the accomplices of the hijackers in Kathmandu.

Once this suitcase was removed, the pilot and crew, who stayed in the terminal of Kandahar airport the previous night, left the next morning and arrived in the capital before noon on New Year's day.

While in Kandahar, the hijackers are understood to have used Iridium phones for communicating with the Pakistani authorities. Many of these calls have been intercepted by the Indian authorities. It is believed that the Pakistani authorities insisted on the release of the three insurgents.

India had, after extended negotiations, agreed to release the ``ideologue'' Masood Azhar but was reluctant to free Zargar, well known for his brutality during the Kashmir insurgency. As is now known, India' effort to prevent Zargar's release proved futile.

Information is now beginning to filter in, explaining some contours of the conspiracy. At the Nepal end, inquiries revealed that the hijackers had entered the Kathmandu airport in two batches. The phased entry was necessary to verify whether the plan, which had been worked out in advance with the local airport staff, was still valid.

While most of the hijackers stayed back in a Kathmandu hotel, one of the desperados, Ibrahim Mistry, armed with a revolver, crossed into the departure area after a ``security check''. Once inside, he telephoned his colleagues to join him. Curiously, a Pakistani diplomat reportedly helped in transferring a bag, which might have contained weapons, to the hijackers. These weapons eventually are said to have surfaced in Kandahar.

'Mumbai, the command centre'

Meanwhile, events were moving rapidly in Mumbai, which appears to have been the ``command and control'' centre of the hijacking in the initial phase. This was revealed after Indian authorities apparently intercepted calls by a mobile phone from Mumbai to Karachi, Saudi Arabia, the U.K. and Kathmandu. These calls were made between December 22 till the hijacking took place. Authorities here suspect the involvement of the underworld in executing a detailed plan, which was worked out in Pakistan.

They pointed out that Karachi had become a haven for underworld operatives, including Chotta Shakeel who might have shifted base from Dubai after India and the UAE signed an extradition treaty. That to some extent explains the frequent telephone conversations between Karachi and Mumbai.

Investigations, after the arrest of four underworld operatives, have revealed that hijacking of a plane and causing explosions in Mumbai were part of a plan to be executed around New Year's eve.

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