IC814: Swiss Businessman Who Controlled 90% of the World's Currency-Printing Was Onboard; Hijackers Had No Clue

The Kandahar hijack incident has been generating curiosity among the public ever since Netflix started streaming the IC814 The Kandahar Hijack mini-series based on the infamous 1999 incident in which a passenger flight from Kathmandu to Delhi was taken over by militants.

Amid some controversy over how much of the series is fiction, some details from the actual hijacking saga have resurfaced in the public domain. A particularly sensational piece of information was the presence of a rich businessman onboard the flight that took off from Kathmandu with 176 passengers. However, the hijackers had no clue about the passenger’s real identity.

Read More: IC814: What Happened to the Plane After the Hijack Saga?

No one among the passengers had any clue about this high-profile passenger who was sitting with them.

This passenger was Roberto Giori, a Swiss-Italian businessman. According to a Time report, Giori was one of the richest businessmen in Switzerland at that time. He was the owner of De La Rue, a UK-based company which had control of over 90% of the world’s currency-printing business. De La Rue used to print currency notes of more than 70 countries in the world.

According to a report by The New Indian Express, Roberto Giori was on his way back from Kathmandu after spending a holiday with his partner Christina Calabresi.

Some reports even claim that Giori’s presence in the hijacked flight played a very important role in creating international pressure on India during the talks.

Read More: IC814: Ajit Doval Brought Back This Souvenir from Kandahar But Did Not Keep It

According to reports, Indian Airlines flight IC 814 was hijacked for eight days. The hijackers had demanded $200 million from the Indian government in exchange for the release of the hostages. They also demanded the release of several terrorists held by the Indian government. One of them was Masood Azhar, who later founded the militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed.

India had to release three terrorists — Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar and Masood Azhar in exchange for the hostages.

Masood Azhar is believed to be the mastermind of the 2019 Pulwama attack. His militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed has carried out several terrorist attacks in India.