Kandahar hijacker Zahoor Mistry shot dead in Pakistan

Zahoor Mistry, one of the five Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists who hijacked the IC-814 Indian Airlines flight from Kathmandu to Delhi in 1999, has been reportedly shot dead in Karachi.

Reports quoting Pakistan government sources said, Mistry was shot twice and point blank in the head by unidentified bikeborne assailants near Akhtar Colony in Karachi on March 1.

Mistry who assumed the code name of “doctor” during the Kandahar hijacking is believed to have killed 25-year-old Rupin Katyal who was one of the hostages.

Pakistan’s Geo TV which confirmed the news identified Mistry as a “businessman” from Karachi.

Mistry had been living in the city using the alias of ‘Zahid Akhund’ for the past many years and was operating a furniture business by the name of Crescent Furniture.

According to the media in Pakistan, Mistry’s funeral was attended by Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar’s brother Rauf Asghar and others members of various terror groups.

Five hijackers including Mistry hijacked the Indian Airlines plane boarded for New Delhi after it took off from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal on December 24, 1999.

The other hijackers included Rauf Asghar and Masood Azhar’s elder brother Ibrahim Azhar. Mistry had killed Katyal, who was returning home with his wife after their honeymoon in Kandahar, by slitting his throat.

The flight carrying 180 passengers and crew was hijacked while it was over Lucknow. It was then taken to Amritsar for refueling. It had tried to land in Lahore, but was denied permission. It was later taken to Kandahar where the then Taliban government brokered negotiations with the Indian government for the release of the hostages.

After negotiations ended on December 31, 1999, and the Indian government had to release Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar from prison along with Omar Saeed Sheikh and Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar in exchange of the release of the passengers.