IC-814 Kandahar hijacking survivor shares harrowing details, talks about controversy around Netflix series

An IC 814 hijacking survivor, Pooja Kataria recently opened up in an interview with ANI. She along with her husband Rakesh were a newly-wedded couple at the time and returning from their honeymoon in Nepal. Here, Pooja reveals the "Hindu" codenames the terrorists used, and how the recent controversy around the Netflix show IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack over the fact is unfounded.

IC814 hijacking survivor reveals harrowing details

#WATCH | Chandigarh | Following Netflix¡¯s ¡®IC 814¡¯ controversy, Pooja Kataria, a survivor of the IC-814 Kandahar hijacking says, "There were 5 terrorists on board the aircraft. Half an hour after the flight took off the terrorists declared that the flight was hijacked. We were¡­ pic.twitter.com/r2EXgHm2bA

¡ª ANI (@ANI) September 4, 2024

A survivor of the IC 814 hijacking, Pooja Kataria shared harrowing details of her time on the cursed Indian Airlines flight. She and her husband Rakesh were a newly-wedded couple at the time. They were returning from their honeymoon in Nepal.

She told ANI, "There were five terrorists on board the aircraft. Half an hour after the flight took off the terrorists declared that the flight was hijacked. We were nervous. We were asked to keep our heads down."

"We didn't even know we were in Kandahar. People were having panic attacks, so one of the terrorists named 'Burger', who had a friendly approach, helped people, and made them play 'Antakshari'. Terrorist 'Doctor' gave a lot of speeches on converting to Islam."

"The other terrorists were named 'Bhola' & 'Shankar'. The series was made for entertainment purposes, I don't know why people are getting offended...Maybe the (Indian) govt could have tried a commando attack on the aircraft in Amritsar, then then it could not have flown outside India," she added.

Rakesh Kataria spoke to India Today TV, and revealed he won't watch the Netflix show because he "did not want to relive the ordeal again." He did however have this to say about the recent controversy surrounding the show: "I have heard about the controversies, but what Netflix has shown is the truth."

What's the controversy around Netflix's IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack?

After the show's release on the popular OTT platform, many users took to X and using the hashtags #IC814, #BoycottNetflix, #BoycottBollywood said the makers of the show had "purposely" changed the names of the hijackers to 'Bhola' and 'Shankar' in order to shift focus from the community the terrorists belonged to.

Seeing the huge backlash online, Netflix India on Tuesday shared that the opening disclaimer in the series had been changed and now includes the hijackers' real and code names.

Monika Shergill, content chief of Netflix India later said in a statement: ¡°For the benefit of audiences unfamiliar with the 1999 hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight 814, the opening disclaimer has been updated to include the real and code names of the hijackers. The code names in the series reflect those used during the actual event,¡± said

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