Onkar Singh

The Federal Bureau of Investigation's parallel probe into the hijack is apparently going nowhere. The FBI entered the picture since an American citizen, Jeanne Moore, was aboard the hijacked aircraft.

The FBI's investigators, who approached the passengers through the Central Bureau of Investigation, could no take their probe forward since they had nothing new to ask the victims.

In the absence of a new angle to the hijack, the passengers found themselves answering the same questions that had already been posed to them by the CBI, all over again.

"It was hellish going through the same kind of grilling that we underwent with the CBI. Some like me co-operated with the FBI, but there were others who did not want to talk to them. However they are still being chased," said one passenger.

One passenger who helped others on the hijacked flight claimed some investigators were forcing them to say things which either did not happen or they were not aware of. "The FBI sleuths want information which we do not have, and that is why I am not willing to see them," she alleged.

But CBI sources denied that passengers were being forced to speak against their wishes. "The lady in question has spoken to us and given us a good statement. She has not told us that she is being forced to speak against her will. Nor are we aware of what the FBI is doing. Since the FBI is a professional agency, we do not believe they would do anything of what is being alleged," the source said.

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