CHANDIGARH: Gajinder Singh, 74, who was a wanted terrorist involved in the hijacking of an Indian Airlines (IA) flight to Lahore in 1981, has died after a heart attack at a hospital in Pakistan. The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbhandak Committee (SGPC) passes a resolution expressing grief over his death.
Dal Khalsa spokesperson Paramjit Singh Mand said Gajinder Singh’s daughter Bikramjit Kaur who lives in the United Kingdom with her family has confirmed the development. Singh was the co-founder of radical outfit Dal Khalsa. In 2002, he was included in a list of 20 most wanted terrorists.
He was among the five men who hijacked the Indian Airlines flight IC-423 that took off from Palam airport in Delhi for Srinagar on September 29, 1981. The flight carried 111 passengers and six crew members and was forced to land in Lahore. Singh was demanding the release of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and several other Khalistani militants in protest against the death of 16 Sikhs in police firing at Chowk Mehta earlier that year.
They were arrested by Pakistan authorities on September 30, 1981, tried and were all awarded 14-year imprisonment by a special court in Lahore. They completed their sentence on October 31, 1994. The co-conspirators were Tejinder Pal Singh, Satnam Singh Paonta Sahib, Dalbir Singh and Karan Singh. In 1996 Gajinder went to Germany but was not allowed to enter that country after objections were raised by India and he returned to Pakistan.