Man gets life over Jet hijack threat

Ahmedabad: An NIA court on Tuesday awarded life imprisonment to a Mumbaibased businessman and imposed a fine of `5 crore on him for leaving a hijack threat note on a Jet Airways plane in October 2017.

Ahmedabad, June 11: In the first conviction under the amended antihijacking law, a special NIA court on Tuesday awarded life term to a Mumbai-based businessman and also imposed a hefty `5 crore fine for triggering a hijack scare on a Jet Airways plane in 2017.

After the incident on October 30, 2017, Birju Salla became the first person to be put under the “national no-fly-list” and was also the first to be booked under the stringent Anti Hijacking Act, which had replaced a vintage law of 1982. The new anti-hijack rules came into force in July 2017.

Holding Salla guilty of creating a hijack scare, the court of special NIA judge K.M. Dave ordered that the fine amount to be given by Salla be distributed among the crew members and passengers on board the plane.

Salla was accused of creating a hijack scare by planting a threat note written in English and Urdu in the tissue paper box of the aircraft’s toilet.

The pilot and co-pilot of the flight will be given `1 lakh each, the flight attendants will be given `50,000 each, and 116 passengers on the flight will be given `25,000 each from the fine collected from Salla, the court said.

The NIA had in January last year filed a chargesheet against him under relevant sections.

The NIA had said Salla prepared a “threat note” in both English and Urdu language and placed it “intentionally” in the tissue paper box of the toilet.