LAHORE: Two young Kashmiris claiming to belong to the National Liberation Front of Jammu and Kashmir, an organisation of freedom fighters based in Occupied Kashmir, hijacked a Jammu-bound Fokker Friendship of Air India and forced the pilot to land at the Lahore airport at about one p.m. today [Jan 30]. The plane, named “Ganga” which flew from Srinagar, was carrying four members of the crew and 28 passengers including the two hijackers, both about twenty years old, an old lady, an Indian Army captain and two unaccompanied young boys. …

Talking to the newsmen in the transit lounge of the airport the co-pilot of the plane, Mr. Kachru said a few minutes before the plane was to land at the Jammu airport, one of the hijackers carrying a pistol and hand grenade entered the cockpit and asked the pilot to divert the plane to Pakistan or else he would blow it up. […] The hijackers are reported to have held the passengers for about 45 minutes before they allowed them to leave the plane. The crew and passengers were kept in transit lounge under police protection. Later they were transferred to Hotel Ambassador. Meanwhile, the hijackers who continued to stay in the plane are reported to have demanded political asylum in Pakistan. The ... officials are investigating the circumstances under which the plane landed... .

Published in Dawn, January 31st, 2021