This man 'hijacked' a Mumbai-Delhi flight for his girlfriend

Two days after a hijack note on a Jet Airways flight sent airports in India into a tizzy, it has emerged that the hoax-threat was made by a Mumbai-based multi-millionaire jeweler.

Birju Salla's motive was straightforward: shut down Jet so his girlfriend, who works for it in Delhi, shifts to Mumbai and helps him launch his own aviation company.

Here's more about his plan!

02 Nov 2017 This man 'hijacked' a Mumbai-Delhi flight for his girlfriend

Two days after a hijack note on a Jet Airways flight sent airports in India into a tizzy, it has emerged that the hoax-threat was made by a Mumbai-based multi-millionaire jeweler.

Birju Salla's motive was straightforward: shut down Jet so his girlfriend, who works for it in Delhi, shifts to Mumbai and helps him launch his own aviation company.

Here's more about his plan!

HijackA hijack threat was found on a Mumbai-Delhi flight

Early morning on October 30, a hijack note was found in the washroom of a Mumbai-Delhi Jet Airways flight.

"9W-339 is covered by hijackers, should be flown straight to POK.Cargo area contains explosive bombs and will blast if you land in DEL," the note said in Urdu and English.

It was subsequently diverted to Ahmedabad and all passengers and crew on board evacuated safely.

The clues that led investigators to the accused

Investigators were suspicious: Pakistani terrorists do not call the region in question 'Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir' or 'PoK'; they call it 'Azad Kashmir'. Moreover, the note was found in the business class washroom. There were only three passengers there, and only Birju had used the lavatory.

DetailsAccused says motive was to build his own aviation company

Birju later confessed he did it as he was planning to start a new air charter company for his girlfriend, 'Royal Airlines'; it was an attempt to get rival Jet shut down and convince her to shift to Mumbai.

In 2016, he had alleged he found a cockroach in breakfast served on a Jet flight. The purpose was the same.

ActionWhat will happen to the accused now?

Birju, a businessman dealing in jewellery, property, bullion and even khakhras, lives in Mumbai's Nana Chowk with his father, mother and wife.

This is the first arrest under the strengthened Anti-Hijacking Act which was implemented in July.

Birju might face life imprisonment along with fine. His properties could be confiscated.

His girlfriend will also be questioned.

The NIA is likely to take over probe.

ACCUSED ARRESTED, MAY BE PUT ON NO-FLY LIST: MINISTER

Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju tweeted that the accused Birje had been identified and arrested. He is in for more trouble. Raju said, "I will recommend that his name be put on the no-fly list". The civil aviation ministry had recently created rules for the no-fly list to discourage unruly passengers from disrupting flights and aviation services. If the committee that scrutinises cases accepts the no-fly recommendation, this passenger may lose the right to buy a flight ticket anywhere in India for any destination for a specific period of time.

The threat note recovered from the plane's toilet.

Earlier in the day following the recovery of the threat note, a senior aviation official had said, "Jet flight 9W 339 BOM-DEL had departed at 0255 hours and after being diverted to AMD, landed at 0350 hrs as the PILOT IN COMMAND was informed by the crew that a threatening note was found in the toilet."