The incident began while the aircraft was flying, carrying 33 passengers with 5 crew members abroad. The Karachi-bound PIA Fokker Aircraft, Flight PK-554, was hijacked shortly after it took off from Gwadar at 5:35pm on 25 May 1998. The hijackers forced the pilot to fly towards New Delhi, India.[2]
Hijacker's demands
The hijackers had initially asked the pilot to veer the plane towards New Delhi. But, the pilot refused to head towards Delhi on the pretext of fuel shortage and Pakistan Air Force jets had intercepted the aircraft as well. The drama started when the PIA pilot, Captain Uzair Khan, called the Hyderabad Airportgeneral manager after being hijacked. His message addressed Hyderabad Airport as Bhuj Airport, and led the hijackers to believe that they were in Bhuj, India, as he had heard the hijackers talking about maps of Bhuj. The Hyderabad airport staff started pretending to be from Bhuj airport and told the pilot that they were waiting for the plane to land. This communication assured the hijackers that the plane had crossed into India.[3][4]
Hijackers
The three hijackers were identified as Shahsawar Baloch, Sabir Baloch and Shabir Rind.[5] They were traveling under the names of Jamal Hussain, Anwer Hussain and Ghulam Hussain.[citation needed]
Timeline
The siege of Flight 544
The plane landed at Hyderabad late at night. The airport manager had switched off the lights and markings of Hyderabad. Later in the night, the hijackers released flight engineer Sajjad Chaudhry to talk to the authorities to refuel the plane for an onward journey to New Delhi, India. The standoff came to an end after seven hours of continuous negotiations led by senior officials of the Pakistan Police. The officials included Senior Superintendent of Police Akhtar Gorchani, Assistant Superintendent of Police Usman Anwar, Deputy Commissioner & District Magistrate Hyderabad Sohail Akbar Shah and Pakistan RangersMajor Aamir Hashmi, at 3 am on Monday. The hijackers demanded food, water, and fuel for the aircraft.
Preparation for the attack
The officials that included Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Hyderabad Akhtar Gorchani, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Hyderabad Dr. Usman Anwar, Deputy Commissioner (DC) Sohail Shah and Army ISI Rangers Major Aamir Hashmi, at 3 am on Monday . The hijackers' demand for food and water and fuel for the aircraft.
There were three hijackers and officials mentioned above were able to take control of the situation after women and children were released from the plane. After DC Sohail Shah reached out to control and informed them situation is under control, police and rangers vehicles approached the plane and all the hijackers were arrested.
This mission was completed by Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Hyderabad Akhtar Gorchani, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Hyderabad Dr. Usman Anwar, Deputy Commissioner (DC) Sohail Shah and Army Rangers ISI Major Aamir Hashmi. All the other military and para military agencies were in the vicinity but they were not allowed to come close the plane because hijackers were under the assumption they are at Indian Airport.
The hijackers were said to be carrying small weapons - pistols or revolvers, although they showed some packets which they claimed were high intensity explosives. The interrogations revealed that the Baloch hijackers were opposed to nuclear testing in their native Balochistan province following the recent Indian nuclear testing. It was later revealed that hijackers had demanded refueling to proceed to New Delhi. During the siege, the Corps Commander of V Corps, Chief Secretary, Home Secretary, and IG police were at the airport.
Aftermath
The Sindh GovernorLieutenant-General (retired) Moinuddin Haider remained in touch with the authorities throughout the siege. The following week, he honored the Sindh police officers with highest honors and gallantry awards. The hijackers were convicted under 402-B (hijacking code defined in Pakistani law) in 1998 and were given the death penalty in 1999. All hijackers were hanged on 28 May 2015, after 17 years to the day when Pakistan had successfully conducted their nuclear tests in Chaghi, Balochistan.[3][6]
