Jet Airways hijack hoax: Spurned love, revenge possible motives behind Gujarati passenger's threat

A Delhi-bound Jet Airways flight from Mumbai was diverted to the airport in Ahmedabad after a note was found on board threatening the presence of hijackers and explosives on the aircraft. The person responsible for the ’letter’, a Gujarati jeweller, was detained by the city police. The note, allegedly placed by Mumbai-based Gujarati jeweller Birju Salla, stated there were 12 hijackers and a bomb in the cargo area. The note, which was printed in Urdu and English, asked that the plane be flown straight to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). It ended with the words, “Allah is Great”. The reference to PoK made investigators suspicious as Pakistan-based terrorists call the area ‘Azad Kashmir’, an official said, according to The Indian Express. [caption id=“attachment_2693392” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of a Jet Airways aircraft. PTI[/caption] Flight 9W 339, which had taken off from Mumbai at 2.55 am with 115 passengers and seven crew members, landed without incident at Ahmedabad around 3.45 am. The Boeing 737-900 plane was parked at a remote bay and all 122 safely deplaned, a Jet Airways spokesperson said. Salla was reportedly the last person to use the washroom before the threatening note was discovered by the cabin crew staff.  Salla, who now lives in Mumbai, had in the past too done such a mischief with the airline out of some grudge, the police official said. Repeat offender Salla, who now lives in Mumbai, in the past had done such a mischief with the airline out of some grudge, the police official said.

“This is the second time when Salla did such a mischief with Jet Airways. A few months ago, he tried to harass the airline using some other trick. It seems that Salla has some grudge against the airline,” he said.

Salla was a repeat offender who usually travelled business class and appeared to have a grouse against the airline. He had had earlier created a ruckus over a cockroach he allegedly found in his food. “The fact that the insect wasn’t cooked made the crew suspect that it may have been planted. The matter, however, was resolved with minimal fuss,” a senior government official was quoted by Hindustan Times on the condition of anonymity. The airline, however, had let him go after taking an assurance that he would not repeat the offence. A plot out of ‘Bollywood’ Investigators have two working theories as to why Salla resorted to the hijack hoax: First, that it was an act of revenge against an airline employee for not responding to his declaration of love for her; and second, that it was aimed at the airline for having treated him poorly during flights he had taken in the recent past.

An initial probe in Salla and his motive behind planting the hoax revealed a plot straight from a Bollywood movie with unrequited love as its theme, according to The Times of India.

The report stated that investigators ascertained the 37-year-old had reportedly fallen for a Jet Airways employee and had hoped that by doing something that runs the airline to the ground, he would leave the lady jobless and force her to come to him for employment. The bizarre theory emerged during a background check on Salla and was reaffirmed in alleged confessions made by him.

“Salla runs property business in Thane, a suburb of Mumbai. His company is registered with the ministry of corporate affairs. Last July, he had picked up a major fight on a Jet Airways flight by claiming that his meal had cockroaches. He somehow wanted to harm Jet so that the lady comes to him for a job. Salla may be of unsound mind,” a senior investigator told The Times of India.

Salla had reportedly told police that he had “made up the hijacking note to defame the airline” and “seek revenge” against a female crew member who had “spurned” him. NIA to probe According to a report in The Indian Express, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) is set to probe the fake hijack threat. Official sources in Mumbai said that a case has been registered against Salla under sections 3(b), for forcefully seizing control of an aircraft, and 4(b), mandating life imprisonment, of the Anti Hijacking Act, 1982. They said that charges under the Act bring the case under the ambit of the NIA, the report said.

Salla’s note had read: “9W 339 is covered by hijackers and a/c (aircraft) should not land and (be) flown straight to POK (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir). 12 ppl on board. If you put landing you can hear the noise of people dying. Don’t take it as a joke. Cargo area contains explosive bombs and will blast if you land in DEL (Delhi). Allah is great.”

According to CNN-News18, an air hostess onboard had found a note in the bathroom there were hijackers and explosives on the aircraft. As per protocol, the air hostess alerted the pilot who in turn alerted the Air Traffic Control (ATC) and made an emergency landing in Ahmedabad and parked at a remote bay in the airport. The note warned the pilot not to land at Delhi and instead fly the aircraft to Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK). The plane was then diverted to Ahmedabad where it landed safely. Inspection by the bomb disposal squad found no explosive in the plane and the note turned out to be a hoax. With inputs from PTI