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A very ill Khurana returns home

Onkar Singh and Neena Haridas in New Delhi

Anil Khurana, the diabetes patient who was released from the hijacked Indian Airlines Flight IC-814 on Tuesday and underwent treatment in an Islamabad hospital thereafter, arrived at the Indira Gandhi International Airport today on a Pakistan International Airlines flight at 2130 IST.

Khurana's brother-in-law Sanjeev Sharma is still on the flight.

Anil Khurana was received by his family and Union Civil Aviation Minister Sharad Yadav. His wife Neeru later told newspersons that the family would celebrate the occasion only after all the passengers held hostage aboard the Airbus 300 in Kandahar were released. She thanked the hijackers for releasing her husband.

Khurana himself did not speak to the press. He did not look too well and his family members said he was heavily sedated. He was immediately driven away in a waiting ambulance.

Khurana's maternal uncle, K P Anand, who did much of the talking with the press, said his nephew wanted to stay back in Kandahar till all the hostages were released, but was sent back after his condition deteriorated.

A long-time friend, Kanwar Thakral, said Khurana was very happy with the treatment he had received in Pakistan as well as the concern shown by the media.

The family, however, expressed unhappiness with the way the Indian government had handled the issue. They felt the government had taken no action except to hold a series of inconclusive meetings.

The Nightmare of Flight IC-814

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