As more details trickle in about the suspected hijacker of the Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight, it is being said that the man was "mentally imbalanced" and wanted to speak to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina about an "issue" he had with his wife.
Bangladesh authorities have identified the man as Md Palash Ahmed from Narayanganj's Sonargaon and he is said to have made the revelation to the pilot of the Dubai-bound plane when he tried to enter the cockpit of the aircraft. Hasina was known to be in Chittagong at the time of the incident on Sunday, February 24, and the Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight was flying to Dubai via Chittagong.
"The reason he gave for the hijack was that he had troubles with his wife and he wanted to talk to the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina," Wing Commander Sarwar-e-Zaman, the airport manager, told Agence France-Presse.
The 25-year-old hijacker was also seen waving a gun inside the aircraft and threatened to blow up the plane. The pilot had to make an emergency landing at the Shah Amanat International Airport in Chittagong when Ahmed is said to have taken a crew member hostage. Once the plane was on the ground, the airport officials and the army asked Ahmad to surrender and the commandos had to move in when he refused.
"We tried to arrest him or get him to surrender but he refused and then we shot him," Reuters quoted Major General S M Motiur Rahman of the Bangladesh Army as saying. He went on to add that the commandos then had to go for action (firing)" that "lasted eight minutes."
All the 142 passengers and the crew members were rescued and Ahmad was eventually shot dead. It was also found that the hijacker was, in fact, carrying a toy gun.
Ahmad's criminal past
It has also been found that the man had a criminal record and had, in the past, abducted a woman and demanded Tk 8 lakh in ransom. He was arrested after an abduction complaint was filed against him on February 22, 2012, reported the Daily Star.
Strangely there seems to be different versions of Ahmad's life. His father Piyar Jahan Sardar, while confirming to the website that the hijacker was his son and born in 1994, said that he had married a film actress named Shimla and even posted several images of her on social media sites. But he added that his son's Facebook profile identifies him as Mahibi Jahan, an IT Business Analyst working with British Airways and living in Glasgow, which is a lie.
The profile says he graduated from public administration department of Dhaka University and has travelled to countries such as India, Greece and the UAE to name a few.
Shimla speaks of Ahmad
Meanwhile, the actress Shimla, who is currently in Mumbai on a shooting schedule, spoke to the Daily Star and said that she had divorced Ahmad. She explained that she had decided to separate from him after realising his "real background" and the fact that he was "mentally imbalanced."
She said that the couple had tied the knot on March 3 and got a divorce about eights months later. "I divorced him on November 6 in the same year," she revealed, but added that she did not find him indulging in any illegal activity while they were married.
The hijacker himself is known to have acted in a movie, but used the name Mahibi Jahan for the same. "Everyone knew him as Mahi. He did a small role in the movie," an actress of the film told the website.
