Needless controversy over OTT series, says Kandahar plane hijack survivor

Chandigarh: Amid a row over the depiction of code names of hijackers of the 1999 Indian Airlines plane in the OTT series "IC814: The Kandahar Hijack", a survivor of the harrowing incident on Wednesday said there is a "needless" controversy over the show.

Commenting on Anubhav Sinha's Netflix series, Pooja Kataria, who was then returning from her honeymoon in Kathmandu, said, "I have seen it. The controversy which is going on is needless. There is nothing like this, true event has been depicted and they (hijackers) had code names and they used to call each other using those names." She also recalled how a hijacker with code name 'Burger' talked to the passengers, played Antakshari and gifted her a shawl when he came to know it was her birthday.

"He was friendly with the people as they were having panic attacks. He used to even play 'Antakshari'," she said.

The web series has courted controversy with many claiming that the filmmaker changed the names of the hijackers to 'Shankar' and 'Bhola' to allegedly protect the terrorists who belonged to a certain community.

The real names of the hijackers were Ibrahim Athar, Shahid Akhtar Sayed, Sunny, Ahmad Qazi, Zahoor Mistry and Shakir. However, the series referred to the code names used by terrorists -- 'Bhola', 'Shankar', 'Doctor', 'Burger' and 'Chief'.

Under pressure, Netflix India on Tuesday said it has included the real and code names of the hijackers.

Kataria (47), while recalling the harrowing events which unfolded after the plane was hijacked on December 24, 1999, 40 minutes after it took off from Kathmandu, said the hijackers addressed each other using their code names.

On the controversy surrounding the series, she said that the true event has been depicted. Reality has been shown, there should be no controversy, she asserted.

"I think it should be seen from entertainment point of view only. Other movies are also made. There is no need for controversy," she told PTI Videos here.

Recalling the events on that fateful day, Kataria, said, "There was fear and we thought we all will die. We did not know what was happening outside. We were asked to keep our heads down for two days, we lived in that state of terror for eight days. Only when we came out did we realise what had happened." She went on to add: "We were returning to Delhi from Nepal after our honeymoon." Kataria also recalled it was her birthday when she was a hostage.

"It was my birthday. And I told him (the hijacker) that he should leave us. He said we will celebrate my birthday here. Burger gifted a shawl to me...," she said, showing the shawl she has preserved.

"To my dearest sister and her handsome husband," is written over it and signed by Burger.

"I have preserved the boarding passes also," Kataria said.