Hijack hoax lands caller in jail for lifetime, heavily fined

Ahmedabad: A special NIA court in Ahmedabad found a businessman guilty of planting a hijack threat letter on a passenger flight and sentenced him to life imprisonment along with a fine of five crore rupees, The Indian Express reported.

This is the first case against an individual under the Anti-Hijacking Act, 2016 (amended) in the country.

Birju Kishore Salla, had left a note onboard a Jet Airways Mumbai-Delhi flight, warning that there were hijackers and explosives onboard.

According to the chargesheet which was filed on January 23, Salla planned the entire episode and preparation of the threat note was captured on the CCTV camera.

The court directed Salla to pay one lakh rupees each to the pilot and co-pilot of the flight. Judge Dave also asked Salla to pay Rs 50,000/- each to two air hostesses and Rs 25,000/- each to other crew members. These amounts have to be paid out of the penalty amount of five crore rupees.

NIA chargesheet read that the convict had typed out the threat at his Mumbai office and put it in the tissue paper box of the plane’s toilet. The flight had 115 passengers and seven crew members.