‘Viewers should approach it as entertainment,’ IC-814 hijack survivor on Netflix series

Pooja Kataria shares her experience of the IC-814 hijacking, advising viewers to approach the Netflix series as entertainment.

Pooja Kataria, a passenger on the IC-814 flight hijacked in 1999 says viewers should approach the recently released web series based on the incident as entertainment rather than sparking controversy.

Sharing her review of the Anubhav Sinha directorial limited series based on the real event released on Netflix, Ms. Kataria relived her experience with the hijackers.

Speaking to ANI, Ms. Kataria said, “We were returning from Nepal when the aeroplane got hijacked. There were 176 passengers on the flight. Just half an hour after the flight took off, it was hijacked.”

“There were 5 hijackers in the plane. We were all scared and didn’t have any idea about our whereabouts. We were given nothing to eat, except a small apple on a day,” Ms. Kataria recalled.

“I don’t know why people are making a controversy around the series. The series is based on a real event and the names of the hijackers used in the series are also factual,” Ms. Kataria said.

Further, she said, “One of the hijackers who was called Burger celebrated my birthday on the hijacked plane and also gifted me his shawl on that day. Another hijacker who identified himself as Doctor used to give speeches on Islam on the plane and seemed to be an intelligent individual.” Ms. Kataria shared a paper clipping from the incident and memorabilia from the hijack.

‘IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack’ has triggered a row on social media over the names of the hijackers in the series. Netflix later updated its disclaimer with the real and code names of the hijackers.