Kandahar hijack: CBI, IB team to verify Rauf

New Delhi: A two-member team of CBI and IB, which left to Chile last night, will verify whether the person arrested by Chilean police is Abdul Rauf, wanted in the hijacking of Indian Airlines IC-814 in 1999.
“The team will verify whether the arrested person in Chile is the same person who is wanted in the hijacking of IC-814,” a CBI spokesperson said today.
The team comprises a Superintendent of Police rank officer from CBI and a Deputy Inspector General with the Intelligence Bureau.
Rauf was arrested in a case of fake visa but during investigation Chilean police found that the international police organisation Interpol had issued a notice against one Abdul Rauf involved in the hijacking of the plane, sources said.
Neither Rauf’s picture nor his fingerprints was available with the CBI and only after proper verification his identity could be ascertained, the sources said.
Rauf, the one wanted by India, is a close relative of dreaded terrorist Masood Azhar who was released by the NDA government to secure freedom of over 150 passengers of IC-814 plane which was hijacked from India to Kandahar, Afghanistan by terrorists on December 24, 1999.
The hijackers had first demanded release of 35 militants to free the passengers but later scaled down their demand to three, including Azhar.
The three militants were handed over to Afghan officials at Kandahar airport by Indian officials on December 31, 1999, which led to release of Indian passengers held captive in the aircraft.
Azhar, after settling down in Pakistan, founded the terror outfit Jaish-e-Muhammed which attacked Parliament on December 13, 2001.
One of the passengers, Rupin Katyal, was killed by the terrorists on board when the aircraft was still in Indian space.
Rauf is believed to be the main co-ordinator and financier of the hijack conspiracy.