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Police reveal Bombay connection to hijacking

C Mehrotra in Bombay

In a significant development, the Bombay Police Commissioner, R H Mendonca, today revealed that the five Inter Services Intelligence agents who were nabbed in the western suburb of Jogeshwari last week had been trained in Pakistan, and some of them were members of the terrorist outfit, Harkat Ul Ansar which masterminded the hijacking of the Indian Airlines Flight 814.

Their names are: Haji Mohammad Iqbal from Multan, Mohammad Hashim (Babloo) from Karachi, Yusuf Nepali from Kathmandu and Abdul Moin and Mushtaq Azmi, both from Bombay.

"They were in constant touch with Kathmandu and Karachi since the plane was hijacked on December 24," said Mendonca at his annual police press conference in Bombay today.

A huge quantity of arms and ammunition was recovered from these men on December 30. The Bombay police suspects that the arms recovered from these terrorists might have some connection with the arms found aboard the hijacked aircraft. "We have given our information to the intelligence agencies and it is up to them to establish the link," said Joint Police Commissioner, Crime, D Shivanandan.

The five men were nabbed in connection with a bank robbery in Borivli in suburban Bombay. The ISI's aim in committing this robbery was apparently to replenish its economic resources, a key element for the success of its strategy of subversion, said police sources.

NIGHTMARE ON FLIGHT 814
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