Indian Airlines Flight 423 (

IATA The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is a trade association of the world's airlines founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff ...

No.: IC423) was an

Indian Airlines Indian Airlines was a division of Air India Limited. It was based in Delhi and focused primarily on domestic routes, along with several international services to neighbouring countries in Asia. It was a division of Air India Limited after mer ...

Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton Factory in Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating with two un ...

domestic passenger flight from the Delhi-Palam Airport to the Amritsar-Raja Sansi Airport on 29 September 1981. It was hijacked by five Sikh Terrorist of the Dal Khalsa, masterminded by Sikh Terrorist and taken to

Lahore Airport Allama Iqbal International Airport ( ur, , ) is the third largest civilian airport by traffic in Pakistan, after Jinnah International Airport, Karachi and Islamabad International Airport. It serves Lahore, capital of Punjab and second-larges ...

in Pakistan. The plane had 111 passengers and 6 crew members on board. The Dal Khalsa had been demanding a separate Sikh homeland of

Khalistan The Khalistan movement is a Sikhs, Sikh Separatism, separatist movement seeking to create a homeland for Sikhs by establishing a sovereign state, called Khālistān ('-stan, Land of the Khalsa'), in the Punjab, Punjab region. The proposed sta ...

. The leader of the hijackers, Gajender Singh, talked to

Natwar Singh Kunwar Natwar Singh, IFS (born 16 May 1931) is an Indian diplomat and politician who served as the Minister of External Affairs from May 2004 to December 2005. Singh was selected into the Indian Foreign Service, one of the most competitive an ...

, India's ambassador in Pakistan, and put forward his demands. Singh had demanded the release of

Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale (; born Jarnail Singh Brar; 2 June 1947– 6 June 1984) was a militant leader of the Sikh organization Damdami Taksal. He was not an advocate of Khalistan. "Bhindranwale was not an outspoken supporter of Khalistan, ...

and others, and a sum of $500,000 in cash. Pakistan rescued the passengers upon request from India in spite of protests by Pakistani intelligence agency ISI. Pakistan took commando action using its elite SSG which cleared the plane and got all passengers released. The hijackers faced trial in Pakistan and they were sentenced to life imprisonment. The accused, Satnam Singh, after completing his trial, returned to India and was put on retrial. However the court discharged him, stating that the accused has already served the sentence in Pakistan.

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* {{Air India Aviation accidents and incidents in 1981 Aircraft hijackings in Pakistan Aircraft hijackings in India Aviation accidents and incidents in India Sikh terrorism in India Terrorist incidents in India in 1981 Hostage taking 423 1981 in India Accidents and incidents involving the Boeing 737 Original Indira Gandhi administration Aircraft hijackings Terrorist incidents in India 1981 in Pakistan India–Pakistan relations

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