Man Sentenced to Life In Prison For Hijack Hoax
Man who had planted fake hijack letter in a Jet Airways flight, causing emergency landing, has been given life in jail and fined Rs 5 crore.
Birju Salla a 38 year old businessman living in South Bombay, planted a letter in the toilet of the Jet Airways flight from Mumbai to Delhi in October 2017, in the letter he said the plane is full of hijackers and the cargo area is full of bombs and that they should not land in Delhi but fly to Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir (POK), the pilot made an emergency landing in Ahmedabad where it was found that it was a hoax and there was no threat.
The NIA which is the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said that Salla was rejected by a woman friend and thought that the letter would shut down the airlines and she would lose her job and come work for him. He also was a Platinum card member of Jet Airways.He put the letter in a tissue box in the toilet of the Business Class section. There were only 3 people in Business Class that flight and he was the only one seen to have entered the bathroom. They found evidence which showed Salla typed the letter in his own office which was filmed by cameras. They even found a copy of the letter on his hard disk, that was typed in English and translated into Urdu as well.
Under the new Anti-Hijacking laws the Ahmedabad Court has now sentenced him to Life in Prison and been ordered to pay a fine of Rs 5 Crore, which will be split between the staff and passengers. The 2 pilots will receive Rs 1 Lakh each and the 2 Flight crew will receive Rs 50,000 each with the 116 passengers all receiving Rs 25,000 each.
