KARACHI: Three death-row prisoners convicted for the 1998 hijacking of a PIA Fokker were executed in Karachi and Hyderabad jails on Thursday.
A Karachi-bound PIA Fokker was hijacked by three men shortly after it took off from Turbat with more than 30 passengers on board on May 24, 1998. The hijackers wanted to take the aircraft to India.
The pilot of the plane, Captain Uzair Khan had landed the plane at the Hyderabad airport, duping the hijackers into believing that they had landed in the Bhuj airfield of India.
The hijacking had come to an end after security personnel stormed the plane overpowering the hijackers.
Shahsawar Baloch and Sabir Baloch were hanged in Central Jail Hyderabad, while Shabbir Baloch was executed in Central Jail Karachi.
Mercy pleas filed by the three had already been rejected by the president.
Meanwhile, another five prisoners on death row were executed early Thursday morning in Sahiwal, Haripur, Sargodha , Attock and Karachi jails.
Another prisoner in Karachi central jail was sent to gallows for killing a child in 2003.
In Attock, a prisoner, Akseer, was hanged till death in district jail for committing a murder. The death convict had killed a man on a dispute over money worth Rs 7,000.
Another inmate, Muhammad Ashraf, who killed two persons in 2000, was executed in Sahiwal jail.
In Haripur, a man, Malik Khurram, who was on death row for killing his friend was sent to gallows in central jail.
Meanwhile, one more prisoner, Ameer Abdullah, was hanged till death in Sargodha district jail for killing a man after being sacked from work.
INP
