Reports from multiple media outlets in Pakistan have confirmed that Zahoor Mistry, one of the hijackers of IC 814 flight, has been killed. Mistry was reportedly shot by two assailants on motorcycles in Karachi’s Akhtar colony on March 1. Pakistan’s Geo TV confirmed the killing, identifying Mistry as a “businessman” from Karachi who had been living under the false identity of “Zahid Akhund” and running a furniture business called Crescent Furniture.

According to Pakistani media reports, Mistry’s funeral was attended by Rauf Asghar, the brother of Jaish-e-Mohammed chief, and other members of the terror group. CCTV footage shown by local media captured the assailants loitering in the area before the murder.

The Indian Airlines flight was hijacked on December 24, 1999, after departing from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, heading to Indira Gandhi International Airport in . Mistry, along with Rauf Asghar and Azhar’s elder brother Ibrahim Azhar, was one of the five hijackers. Mistry was responsible for the death of a passenger, 25-year-old Rupin Katyal, who was returning from a honeymoon in Kathmandu with his wife.

The hijacked flight, carrying 180 passengers and crew, was diverted to Amritsar for refueling and later attempted to land in Lahore but was denied permission. It was eventually taken to Kandahar, where the Taliban government in Afghanistan joined negotiations for the release of the passengers.

The negotiations concluded on December 31, 1999, resulting in the release of Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar, Omar Saeed Sheikh, and Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar from an Indian prison. The three individuals were associated with the terrorist group Harkat-ul-Mujahideen at the time.

Following their release and transfer to Taliban authorities, the trio crossed into Pakistan. Azhar has since orchestrated numerous terror attacks in and Kashmir, as well as other parts of India, including the 2016 Pathankot airbase attack and the 2019 Pulwama attack that resulted in the deaths of 40 CRPF soldiers.