Kandahar row:IC-814 hijacker not arrested in Chile, says Pak

Islamabad, Apr 13: Extending India's confusion, Pakistani media now came up with the revelation that the man, who has been held in Chile, was not the 1999 Indian Airlines IC-814 Kandahar hijacking suspect.

The Pakistani media reports, quoting Pakistan police, claimed that Mufti Abdul Rauf, named as the conspirator in CBI chargesheet, is in Rawalpindi and also blamed India to plot to discredit Rauf.

The News daily quoted Pakistani police official (on the condition of anonymity) as saying, "The Chilean police have arrested someone else because Mufti Abdul Rauf, the younger brother of Azhar, is present in the garrison town of Rawalpindi."

Chilean authorities had informed the CBI through Interpol on Apr 11 that they had arrested a Pakistani national, Abdul Rauf, who matched the description of the person charge-sheeted by the CBI in the hijacking of flight IC-814.

The hijacking had compelled the then BJP-led government in India to release Azhar along with Sheikh Ahmed Omar Saeed, who has been sentenced to death for the murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl, and another terrorist.

Indian authorities have dispatched a CBI team to Chile to verify the identity of the detained man.

OneIndia News