Four years later , in December 1999 , an Indian Airlines Flight 814 ( IC814 ) en route from Kathmandu in Nepal to New Delhi was hijacked and eventually landed in Kandahar , Afghanistan after being flown to multiple locations . Kandahar at that time was controlled by Taliban , which was initially thought to be on India 's side , but later was suggested to be working with Pakistan 's ISI . Masood Azhar was one of the three militants demanded to be released in exchange for freeing the hostages . Subsequently , Azhar was freed by the Indian government in a decision criticised by many including Ajit Doval as a " diplomatic failure " . The hijackers of IC814 were led by Masood Azhar 's brother , Ibrahim Athar . His release from Kot Bhalwal jail was supervised by an IPS officer , S P Vaid . His younger brother Abdul Rauf Asghar had planned this attack . Once Masood Azhar was handed over to the hijackers , they fled to Pakistani territory . Pakistan had said the hijackers would be arrested if found , a difficult task given the length of the border and multitude of access points from Afghanistan . The Pakistani government also previously indicated that Azhar would be allowed to return home since he did not face any charges there
Indian Airlines Flight 814
Indian Airlines Flight 814
Masood Azhar