Kandahar hijack financiers set to walk free

Mumbai: Two Pakistanis who robbed a bank to allegedly finance the hijacking of the Indian Airlines flight IC-814 to Kandahar are going to walk free next month without facing a trial.
The duo had submitted a guilty plea before a Mumbai sessions court and were sentenced to eight years in jail recently. Since they have been in custody through their arrest in December 1999, their sentence will be set off against the period they served as undertrials.
Mohammed Asif alias 'Babloo', a resident of Karachi and Mohammed Rafiq Haji, a resident of Multan, were picked up by the Mumbai police on December 30, 1999 for robbing a bank at Borivali along with two other Pakistani nationals on October 6, 1999.
In October 1999, the four accused first stole a Maruti van at Orlem in Malad and later used it for the bank robbery at Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank in Borivali. More than seven lakh rupees were stolen but only Rs 1.72 lakh were recovered at the time of the arrest in December 1999 — the rest of the money having been already transferred to the hijackers. The accused were also found in possession of two AK-56 rifles, seven grenades and four rocket launchers.
07/11/07 Kartikeya/Times of India

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Categories: Air India Domestic Nov 2007, Foreign Nov 2007, Safety Nov 2007