Three hijackers hanged

HYDERABAD: Three hijackers involved in hijacking a PIA Fokker were hanged in the Hyderabad Central Jail on Thursday morning. The three hijackers, Shahswar Baloch, Sabir Baloch and Shabir Baloch, belonging to the Balochistan province had hijacked a Karachi-bound PIA Fokker with 30 passengers on board on May 24, 1998 after its taking off from the Turbat airport and wanted to take the flight to India, but the pilot landed the plane at the Hyderabad airport, fooling them as if they have arrived at the Bhuj airfield in India.
The hijacking was carried out as a protest against the nuclear test conducted in Chaghi, Balochistan. All the three hijackers were awarded death penalty by the Anti-Terrorism Court Hyderabad on August 20, 1998 and they were in jail for 17 years.
Two prisoners, Shahswar and Sabir, were in Hyderabad Jail while the third hijacker Shabir Baloch was shifted to the Karachi Central jail.Humayon Baloch, son of Shahswar Baloch, and another man claimed to be a cousin of Sabir Baloch received their bodies and took them to their areas. After issuing the black warrants for their execution by the anti-terrorism court on May 21, their close relatives were allowed two days back to meet them in the Hyderabad prison.