Plane hijack threat: NIA court gives life term to Mumbai businessman

AHMEDABAD: A special court of National Investigating Agency (NIA) here on Tuesday convicted a Mumbai-based businessman, who had threatened to hijack a Mumbai-Delhi bound Jet Airways flight on October 30, 2017. This is the first conviction under the amended anti-hijacking law.
Businessman Birju Salla was accused of creating a by planting a threat note written in English and Urdu in the tissue paper box of the aircraft's toilet.
After the incident, Salla became the first person to be put under the , and was also the first to be booked under the stringent Anti-Hijacking Act.
NIA special court judge M K Dave sentenced the businessman to life term. The court also slapped a Rs 5 crore fine on Birju Salla. Salla will have to pay compensation of Rs one lakh each to pilot and co-pilot, Rs 50,000 each to two air-hostesses and Rs 25,000 each to all the passengers.
There were 116 passengers, seven crew members and two pilots on board when Salla allegedly planted the note.
NIA public prosecutor Geeta Godambe had sought life imprisonment for the businessman.
NIA had on January 22, 2018, filed a chargesheet under the Anti-Hijacking Act against the 38-year-old Mumbai businessman.
The Mumbai-Delhi Jet Airways plane had to make an emergency landing at the Ahmedabad airport after the pilot was alerted about the threat-note, which mentioned that there were hijackers and a bomb in the cargo area, being found in the plane's washroom by a cabin crew.
The Act was amended in 2016 to include even making threats of “hijacking” a serious offence under which convict faces life term. Salla was charged under section 3 (1), 3(2) and 4(b) of the Anti-Hijacking Act, 2016, which deals with intentionally seizing or exercising control of an aircraft in service by force or threatening to hijack the plane.
After investigation, it has been established that Salla, who had then travelled in the business class of the Jet Airways flight 9W339 from Mumbai, prepared a ‘threat note’ in ‘English’ and ‘Urdu’ language and he intentionally placed it in the tissue paper box of the toilet near the business class thereby jeopardized the safety of the passengers and crew members on board.
NIA had claimed in its chargesheet that Salla wanted to defame the private airline and have its operation discontinued so as to teach a lesson to a woman friend working for the airline. Later during his interrogation, Salla had disclosed that he first compiled the material for the threat letter on his laptop and used some software to translate it into Urdu.
Salla had later taken a printout and carried it with him in the flight before placing it in the toilet.
With this threat note, Salla allegedly wanted his female friend to know the consequences of not agreeing to live with him. He thought she could lose her job this way as Jet's operations would be closed and the airline would be defamed.
During his jail term of over 1.5 years, Salla had unsuccessfully sought bail from the courts for over ten times.
The aviation ministry had handed over the case to NIA in November 2017.