FBI offers help in hijack case

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, APRIL. 5. The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Mr. Louis Freeh, has assured India of ``active assistance'' in the ongoing investigation of the Indian Airlines flight hijacking case being handled by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The offer came during a two-hour meeting which the FBI Director had today with the CBI Director, Mr. R.K. Raghavan. The CBI has made three arrests in the hijacking case and appears poised to unearth crucial aspects of the conspiracy. The Delhi-bound IC-814 flight was hijacked from Kathmandu on December 24 last and finally taken to Kandahar in Afghanistan via Amritsar-Lahore- Dubai by five armed Pakistani hijackers who held passengers and crew hostage for eight days.

Mr. Freeh, accompanied by a team of six senior officials of the FBI, had a luncheon meeting with the CBI Director at the agency's headquarters at the CGO complex here. Senior CBI officials of the rank of joint directors and above were present during the meeting.

As stressed by the CBI Director, Mr. Raghavan, the interaction with the FBI chief and his team focussed on the need for greater collaboration in the area of technology in investigation and creation of infrastructure and training facilities. It is learnt that the FBI chief also expressed the desire to formalise the arrangement for posting of at least two CBI officials in Washington.

According to official sources, it was agreed that interactions between the FBI and CBI officers should be held more often in strengthening cooperation in the area of criminal investigation.

The FBI Director also called on Mr. M.B. Kaushal, Special Secretary, Internal Security in the Union Home Ministry. They identified at least three areas for cooperation between the FBI and Indian enforcement agencies in future - transnational organised crime, smuggling, drug and arms trafficking; anti- terrorism measures; training of police officers in specialised crimes like cyber and computer crime and modern investigation techniques.

Mr. Freeh, who arrived here last evening, also formalised arrangements for setting up the FBI office in the U.S. Embassy here. Mr. Freeh is scheduled to visit Kazakhastan tomorrow at the end of his first ever three-day trip to India.

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