1971 Indian Airlines hijacking

Common card · No. 362527

On 30 January 1971, an Indian Airlines Fokker F27, named Ganga, flying from Srinagar to Jammu, was hijacked by two Kashmiri separatists belonging to the National Liberation Front (NLF). The aircraft was flown to Lahore Airport in Pakistan, where the passengers and the crew were released, and was burnt down three days later. The hijackers were later identified as Hashim Qureshi and his cousin Ashraf Qureshi. India claimed that Pakistan was behind the hijacking and subsequently banned overflights of Pakistani aircraft over the Indian territory. Pakistani authorities arrested the hijackers, and a one-man investigation committee consisting of a Pakistani judge, declared the hijacking to be an Indian conspiracy. While several people were arrested in connection with the case, only Hashim Qureshi was convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison. India never responded to Pakistani allegations, and Hashim Qureshi later stated that only NLF was behind the hijack.

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