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TOUGH LOVE

YB WEB DESK. Dated: 6/14/2019 10:10:57 AM

Jeweller Birju Salla, who threatened to hijack a plane, finds himself devoid of his liberty and rightly so. Mumbai jeweller Birju Salla was smitten with his girlfriend and wanted to spend more time with her in Delhi. The problem was that his girlfriend did not want to quit her job in Delhi. Keep in mind that Salla was married already. His lady friend worked with Jet Airways and Salla, a very frequent traveller with the airline, wanted it to shut its Delhi office so that she would come to him for a job. And he was already a bit upset with the airline due to deteriorating service. He would, in his eyes, kill two birds with one stone. That stone was a hijack attempt, but Salla was a slightly incompetent hijacker and to cut a long story short, he got caught fairly quickly. Even though the evidence was incontrovertible, his prosecution still took close to two years. But after this trial under the new Anti-Hijacking Act, Salla finds himself Rs 5 crore poorer and behind the bars for 14 years. This is a strong message to send. While Salla was actually onboard the aircraft, there are far too many hoax calls made every year that affect airlines and thousands of passengers. These hoaxers have a variety of purposes but most get away with little more than a slap on the wrist. The fine and sentence must be applied, albeit at a lesser level, to these hoax callers as well. Airlines are a core part of the nation’s transportation system. Salla, of course, finds himself in more trouble as the National Investigation Agency (NIA) found that he had also committed bigamy by marrying the lady he fancied. Some might question why someone, who acted out of love but mainly stupidity, should face such a harsh sentence but the law has to be applied. The fine that he is paying will be shared among the pilots, cabin crew and passengers, though it may not be enough to compensate them for their anguish and trauma. The irony of the situation, of course, must not be lost. Barely more than a year after his failed hijacking, the target of ire, Jet Airways, did shut shop. And while it will be impossible to discount whether the hijacking had some role, however minor, in its demise, Salla could have just been a bit more patient. And this punishment may be nothing compared to the problems he will face from his ‘wives’, who won’t be happy now with all the details that have emerged.