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NSG crack team was ready on Dec 24

Josy Joseph in New Delhi

The Union government is likely to institute a high-powered inquiry into the lapses that led to the hijacking of Indian Airlines flight IC 814 and its being flown out of the country. Senior bureaucrats, including Cabinet Secretary Prabhat Kumar and Civil Aviation Secretary Ravindra Gupta, are among those who will be at the centre of this inquiry.

It has been confirmed that a crack team of the National Security Guards sat for over an hour on December 24 in its special aircraft at Palam Airport waiting for orders from the CMG which is headed by Prabhat Kumar. Finally, a single middle-level bureaucrat reached Amritsar to negotiate with the hijackers, but by then the hijacked plane had already taken off for Dubai.

Though senior government officials last night denied that an inquiry had been ordered into lapses at Amritsar, it was learnt today that the government was waiting for the hijack drama, currently unfolding at Kandahar in Afghanistan, to get over.

Indications are available that the government does not want to take blame for the hijacking at the political level, and would not mind taking action against some of the most senior officials involved in the handling of the crisis.

Sources said when the Cabinet discussed the failures recently, the main focus was the Indian Airlines, the CMG and the local security agencies at Amritsar.

Experts are of the opinion that there was enough time available at Amritsar to mount a crack commando operation. They said letting the hijacked aircraft out of India was a big mistake.

The government, meanwhile, on Monday said it was in possession of "full record of events and happenings during the brief halt of the hijacked plane at Amritsar airport."

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Punjab officials deny goof-up at Amritsar

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