Neerja Bhanot killing: FBI releases images of hijackers
Over 31 year after the hijacking of a Pan Am plane in Pakistan, the FBI has released new age- progressed images of four suspects. The incident left 20 people, including Indian flight attendant Neerja Bhanot, dead.
Neerja Bhanot was the senior flight purser on Pan Am Flight 73 hijacked in Karachi in 1986. She was killed while helping passengers to escape through emergency exits.
FBI technicians created new photos of four alleged Pan Am Flight 73 hijackers with the help of Adobe's Photoshop programme. The bureau hopes the updated images will generate new leads and encourage anyone with information to contact the FBI.
Wadoud Muhammad Hafiz al-Turki, Jamal Saeed Abdul Rahim, Muhammad Abdullah Khalil Hussain ar- Rahayyal and Muhammad Ahmed al-Munawar were among the four suspects who were listed on the Most Wanted Terrorists page of the FBI.
"The FBI has worked tirelessly over the past 31 years to bring the perpetrators of the horrific 1986 hijacking aboard Pan Am flight 73 to justice," said Andrew W Vale, assistant director in charge of the FBI's Washington, DC field office.
"The use of aged-progressed photographs is just one investigative technique the FBI is utilizing to accomplish this mission."
A reward of up to USD 5 million each will be awarded for any information that proves useful in the arrests or convictions of the alleged hijackers, The State Department's Rewards for Justice Programme offered.
Safarini, who confessed to the attack and pledged allegiance to the Abu Nidal Organization(ANO), was sentenced to 160 years in 2004. But the four wanted hijackers are still on the run. They were last seen in Pakistan in 2008.
The Government of India posthumously awarded Bhanot her the Ashoka Chakra Award, the country's highest gallantry award for bravery in the face of the enemy during peace time.
- PTC News
