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Bloomberg
An Indian court sentenced a business class passenger to life in jail after he was found guilty of placing a hijacking note in the washroom of a flight, the first such ruling under a new law.
Birju Kishor Salla, 38, was also fined 50 million rupees ($720,000), which will be distributed among pilots, crew and passengers, a special court of the National Investigation Agency said in a judgment. The passenger, who was flying on a Jet Airways India flight to New Delhi from Mumbai in 2017, was found guilty of intentionally disrupting the operations of an aircraft on board.
“Flight No. 9W 339 is covered by hijackers and aircraft should not be land and flown straight to POK,†Salla wrote in a note placed in a tissue paper box, according to court filings. POK refers to the part of the disputed state of Kashmir that’s administrated by Pakistan. Salla further vowed to start killing people if the aircraft’s landing gear was deployed, according to the documents.
The flight’s pilots will get over $1400 each from the fine, while every passenger on board will pocket $360, according to the verdict. Crew members will get $720.
India in 2016 amended rules, making the death penalty compulsory if a hijack attempt results in the death of a hostage or security personnel.