A 10-year ban was put on the Dal Khalsa by the Indian government in 1982 following militant activities carried out by the organization. These included several plane hijackings such as the 1981 hijacking of an Indian Airlines Jetliner (Boeing 737). The plane was hijacked on 29 September 1981, by five members of the Dal Khalsa as a form of protest against the arrest of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale who had been accused of being involved in the murder of Jalandhar based Hindu newspaper owner Jagat Narain later on Ranjit Singh confessed to murdered Jagat Narain. Ranjit Singh was from Akhand Kirtani Jatha and did not belong to Bhindranwale. The hijackers were under the leadership of Gajinder Singh who a few years later was nominated as Chairman of the organization while on asylum in Pakistan. The Dal Khalsa activists forced the plane to land in Lahore, Pakistan and demanded the release of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale in addition to demanding the release of all persons who had been detained in connection with the Khalistan movement, a ransom of 500,000 dollars and compensation of 100,000 Indian Rupees (Rs.) for the families of each Sikhs that had been killed on 20 September 1981, at Chowk Mehta after the arrest of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. A day after the hijacking Pakistani commandos arrested the Dal Khalsa activists. The hijackers were identified as Gajinder Singh, Satnam Singh of Paonta Sahib, Jasbir Singh of Ropar, Tejinderpal Singh of Jalandhar and Karam Singh of Jammu. Though Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale had never openly or officially associated with the Dal Khalsa the organization was largely seen have had close links with him.