If we kill one, we’ll kill all: IC 814 crew recall Taliban militia’s threat

CHANDIGARH: “Talks have failed. It may result in a good outcome or bad, but if we kill one, then we’ll kill you all.” These words of a Taliban insurgent, spoken more than 20 years ago, remain etched in the memory of Anil

Sharma

, cabin in-charge of the hijacked

Airbus

IC814 flight that had remained parked in Kandahar for almost a week in 1999.

In an exclusive interview to TOI from Switzerland, Sharma recalls his encounter with the Taliban insurgents. “I was just coming out of the cockpit after serving tea to the pilots when I saw a masked man and a pistol in hand. He said, ‘Don’t try to do anything. We have hijacked your plane.’ Soon after, I saw four other hijackers.”

“Once we landed at Kandahar, the second-in-command hijacker, code-named ‘

Burger

’, said in chaste

Urdu

, ‘Khaane-peene ka saamaan kifayat se istemaal karna. Do-chaar

roz lag

sakte hain (Use food items frugally. It may take two-four days). They were armed with pistols, hand grenades and a knife,” Sharma added.

“It is the same scenario, as in 1999. I remember that ‘door 2’ on the left-hand side was open and if any of the air hostesses had to pass through it to go to another side of the aircraft, there were instructions from the insurgents that they should cover their heads. On the night of December 29 (1999), the Talibanis took women and children to the executive class, and they were quite rough with them. The next morning, they announced that the ‘talks have failed and if we kill one, then we will kill you all’.”

Sharma said, “We were doing everything at their behest. When they allowed, only then did we serve water and food to the passengers. At one point in time, I could see outside and saw insurgents on jeeps with rocket launchers and bazookas. One of the hijackers told me that they were all ‘contract workers’ and they will lose their job once our work is finished.”

Sushil Kumar Verma, then a senior crew member and now retired as a manager, was on the IA Airbus A320 relief flight. He recalls, “I was informed about the hijacking on the evening of December 24, 1999. I knew that Anil was on that flight. The next day, I came to know that a relief flight was going to Kandahar, and I volunteered to be on it.”

Interestingly, the relief flight was cancelled on two occasions before getting a clearance. “On December 27, around 11.30 am, I was told that I had go to on the flight. I took my personal vehicle to the airport as there was no taxi at that time with just a shaving kit, valid documents and training manuals. The flight took off at 1.30 pm with 52 of us on board, including technicians, doctors, engineers, officials from MEA, etc. We landed in Kandahar around 3.50 pm.”

He adds, “Before landing, while looking out of the window, I saw Talibanis on vehicles with rocket launchers and bazookas guarding the runway on both sides. We were allowed to step out of the aircraft on the second day at an airport building only after Talibanis had carried out an extensive search of the aircraft (internally and externally) and were satisfied (to let us out). After a few days, I saw people coming with their families and roaming in the vicinity of our aircraft. It seemed more like a picnic spot. It was just like how they are roaming in Kabul now.”