The story of the plane hijacked 40 years ago, Foreign Minister Jaishankar's father was also on board.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar referred to the hijacking incident 40 years ago in which he was part of the team that dealt with the problem. But his situation worsened when he learned that his father was also on board the hijacked plane. After this revelation by the Foreign Minister, the 4-decade-old kidnapping saga has come back into discussion. Jaishankar said during an event organized in Switzerland, “In 1984, as an officer, I was part of the team that handled the hijacked plane. “A few hours later, when I called my mother to say that I couldn't come home because the plane was hijacked, I found out that my father was also on the same plane.” Foreign Minister's father K. Subramaniam is an international strategic affairs analyst and journalist. The hijackers wanted to take the plane to the US, but it diverted to Lahore, Karachi and Dubai. A flight departing from Chandigarh was hijacked in the early hours of August 24, 1984. Indian Airlines flight IC-421 (Boeing 737-2A8) was hijacked by some Sikhs associated with the All India Students' Federation (AISSF) claiming that a time bomb was planted on board. A total of 122 people were on board. Out of which 67 passengers disembarked at Chandigarh and 31 passengers boarded for Srinagar. These kidnappers are Sikhs, aged around 20 years. They entered the cockpit and wrested control of the aircraft from Captain VK Mehta. Shortly after taking off from Chandigarh, the flight was hijacked around 7.30 am. The flight took off from Delhi Bridge via Chandigarh to Srinagar. Government servant K. Subramaniam, the father of current External Affairs Minister Jaishankar, was also on board this flight. The smugglers wanted to take the plane to the US and they demanded that the plane be flown to the US, which is far away from India. Later he landed the plane in Lahore, Pakistan. The plane had been hovering over Lahore for about 80 minutes, but as the plane was running low on fuel, Pakistani authorities cleared it to land at Lahore airport at 9:50 am. During this, the hijackers also claimed that they had enough explosives to blow up the plane. They also threatened to kill one of the 74 passengers every 15 minutes until the plane was refueled. 5 passengers released in Lahore The 5 passengers on board the flight were released in Lahore at 7pm, after which the Pakistani authorities allowed the plane to refuel and take off. After this, the hijacked plane flew from Lahore to Karachi, where the hijackers left two women with British passports as they were ill. Although the hijackers wanted to go to Bahrain instead of Karachi, the plane had to be diverted to Karachi due to weather conditions. When the plane reached Karachi, Pakistani authorities refueled the plane at the request of the hijackers. The hijackers then took the plane to Dubai. This Air India flight was now in Dubai. At 8am the following day, UAE Defense Minister Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum arrived at Dubai Airport. He negotiated the safe release of the passengers and the surrender of all the hijackers to the UAE authorities. At 1:45 pm, after repeated requests from Defense Minister Sheikh Rasheed, the kidnappers gave permission to arrange food and water for the hostages. Earlier the smugglers returned food and water. During negotiations with UAE authorities, the smugglers requested safe passage to the United States and were granted political asylum. But they will be arrested if they go to the US, the US Embassy in Dubai said. Meanwhile, Dubai officials along with Indian officials were involved in talks with the smugglers. Meanwhile, the kidnappers forced Subramaniam to start killing a hostage every half hour if their demands were not met. Subramaniam, who came out of the flight in Insulin, during the conversation with the hijackers, at 12.30 pm, as two ambulances were dispatched to the plane, Delhi-based Institute of Security Studies and Analysis director K. Subramaniam complained that insulin injections were required for diabetes. After being given a dose of insulin in the ambulance, Subramaniam and the hijacker who was with him returned to the plane. 36 hours have passed since the plane was hijacked. Negotiations continued between the smugglers and the Indian authorities for the safe release of the passengers. After several rounds of negotiations, the Dubai police chief announced the hijackers' unconditional surrender at 6.50pm. He was taken into custody. All the remaining passengers and crew were safely released in Dubai about 36 hours after the hijacking. During the talks pledging to send the smugglers to the US, Dubai authorities promised to give the smugglers seven days of shelter before sending them to the US. But then he was presented with two options. First, deportation to India. Second, prosecution for air robbery under UAE law. The smugglers were then sent to India. These Sikh terrorists were brought to New Delhi on September 3, 1984. The trial of this case took place in Ajmer, Rajasthan and lasted for 9 years. In April 1993, the seven accused were convicted by a special court set up inside the jail in Ajmer. Within a month of his conviction, he was sentenced to life in prison. The traffickers Kamaljit Singh Sandhu, Devendra Singh, Amarendra Singh, Avtar Singh, Tajinder Singh, Man Singh and Surendra Singh were sentenced to life imprisonment.