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Five more arrested in IA hijacking case

Five more persons were arrested in Bombay Wednesday for abetting and aiding the hijackers of Indian Airlines IC 814 in December last year by providing passports on the basis of forged documents.

Police said the accused were Jetashri Gere, Rashmi Kini, Sudhakar Pawar, (all employees of the passport office) Amin Gafoor Mom, owner of Silver Training motor driving school and Kashirao Dhavare (postman).

While Kini and Jetashree had sought anticipatory bail, the rest of the accused have been remanded to judicial custody till August 10.

The main accused Suresh Bhatnate, owner of Seven Seas Travels, a passport agency at Bombay Central, along with his associates was arrested on December 31 last for obtaining passports for five hijackers on the basis of forged documents.

As per a pre-decided arrangement, Bhatnate had allegedly conspired with some of the employees of Worli Regional Passport office, local police stations and postal staff for obtaining passports on the basis of forged documents.

The accused Kini, a submission clerk at the passport office, had accepted the application of the hijacker Farooq Siddique and others without verifying the documents, while the second accused Jetashree Milind had accepted the application of hijacker Sunny Kazi.

Accused Sudhakar Pawar was instrumental in sanctioning of files and other reports and ensuring that the passports were issued out of turn, while Kashirao Dhavane, attached to Vashi post office had delivered the passport of Ahmed Sheikh to Bhatnate despite the address being fictitious.

NIGHTMARE ON FLIGHT 814
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