Sikhs who seized jet tell India to release leader

An extensive Indian Sikh organization demanded the release of a jailed Sikh leader by this morning (Sept. 30) as a condition for freeing hostages held on a hijacked Indian Airlines plane in Lahore.

Indian Civil Aviation sources said in New Delhi that three to five Sikh hijackers who seized the boeing 737 earlier Tuesday and forced it to fly to Lahore had released 67 of the 117 people aboard.

The Dal Khalsa, a Sikh youth organization set up to demand creation of a separate Sikh Khalistan state, demanded the release of a Sikh leader, Sant Jarnail Singh Bhinderanwale, who was under arrest in connection with the murder of a Punjab newspaper editor who had opposed the demand for a separate state.