NIA court sentences man to life term under Anti-Hijacking Act

A special National Investigating Agency court on Tuesday sentenced a person, who had threatened to hijack a Delhi-bound Jet Airways flight in 2017, to life imprisonment.

The convict Birju Kishor Salla has also been fined Rs 5 crore for violations of various provisions of Anti-Hijacking Act, 2016.

Out of the fine amount, each pilot will get compensation of Rs 1 lakh, each air hostess will get Rs 50,000 and each passenger will be paid Rs 25,000.

In 2017, an air hostess found a threat note in the washroom of the business class of the plane which stated that "there are hijackers on board and explosives on the plane". This threat was brought to the notice of the Captain of the flight who sought the permission of Air Traffic Controller in Ahmedabad for an emergency landing.

Initially, the case was registered and investigated by Crime Branch, who arrested Birju on the basis of suspicion.

Following this, NIA re-registered the case under sections 3(1), 3(2)(a) and 4(b) of Anti Hijacking Act 2016 and took over the investigation later that year.

NIA established that accused Birju had intentionally committed the act to disrupt the operation of aircraft.

In January 2018, the charge sheet was filed in the NIA Special Court against the accused.