Josy Joseph

There was a triumphal air to their march to freedom -- accompanied, in that sequence, by Research and Analysis Wing chief A S Daulat, then by Minister for External Affairs Jaswant Singh and, finally, by Taliban leaders and the hijackers themselves.

And thus they walked, from captivity to freedom. So what have the fruits of that freedom really been like, for the three terrorists released by the Indian government in response to the hijacking of IC 814?

Here is a checklist:

Maulana Masood Azhar

The most high-profile of the trio, with his small round spectacles and jet black beard and the Koran as constant companion.

Azhar has flourished since his release from captivity. Resuming his activities almost immediately after his release, he took time off to get married on January 17, 2000.

And then, it was back to business as usual. Just prior to that, Azhar floated the militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad, with a reported active strength of 400 members, and a loose confederacy with other militant groups that stretches across Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Azhar's fledgling group also enjoys the support of the cash-rich Deobandi school acolytes and, of course, the Taliban.

The group is flush with funds. Intelligence sources indicate that Azhar has accounts in banks such as the Karachi branch of ANZ Grindlays and a total corpus estimated at Rs 17 crore.

Actively helping him in his efforts is the much-feared anti-Shia outfit Sipah-e-Sahiba -- a name that spells nightmares for even the Pakistan administration.

Working out of his homes in Karachi and Babalpur, Azhar has used his network to flood India with hundreds of thousands of audio cassettes containing the fiery speeches that are his trademark. Several thousand have been seized by Indian authorities, but far more are still in circulation.

On another front, Azhar's outfit has organised training camps at Nikial and Kotli in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and at Rashkor in Afghanistan.

Intelligence agency sources indicate that, in a worrying new development, Jaish-e-Mohammad has been providing intensive arms training to a corps of female militants at the Kotli camp -- a signal for escalation of violence on another front.

Thus Azhar has, over the 364 days following the hijack, emerged as a key rallying point for Kashmiri militants. And his latest claim, that he will not rest content until he hoists his organisation's flag from the ramparts of the Red Fort, is being seen in intelligence circles as a sign of nightmares to come.

The other two, Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar and Ahmed Umar Syed Sheikh, have been relatively low key. The feeling within intelligence circles is that their low profile owes itself to the awareness that India's dirty tricks department and several American agencies are on their trail.

Which, however, is not to say that they have taken a complete sabbatical from their bloodletting activities.

Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar

The recalcitrant Srinagar kid who emerged as a dreaded terrorist a few years ago is now engaged in reviving his group, Al-Umar Mujahideen.

Known for his ruthlessness and his ability to plan stunning strikes, Zargar is the only Indian Kashmiri in the lot. He grew up in Gani Mohalla of the Jama Masjid area of Srinagar.

Zargar was motivated into militancy sometime in 1984, but he became famous during the kidnapping of Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of then Union home minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed. He parted ways with Yasin Malik of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front after one of his suggestions was not accepted.

Zargar then formed the Al-Umer Mujahideen in December 1989. The group went on to earn a reputation for planning and executing some of the most inhuman strikes in the valley. His name, along with Azhar's, had figured among the people whose release was being demanded when the Al Faran group abducted five foreign tourists.

In an interview that appeared in an Islamic site, Masood Azhar says about Zargar: "In my opinion he has two other notable qualities. One is is deep concern for his mujahideen... He always took the group across the border himself. If he continues to do so now, the movement will undoubtedly gain. The second is that all the mujahideen gather around him. Those who, because of his arrest, have given up jihad or have left for other countries will now come back again. The movement will thus get a new impetus and gain momentum."

Intelligence agencies indicate that Zargar has, of late, joined hands with Dr Hyder, former second-in-command of the JKLF and the outfit behind the bomb blast at Lajpat Nagar in New Delhi in 1997.

The notorious Inter-Service Intelligence has extended patronage to Zargar, encouraging him to build up the pace and tempo of militant activity in Kashmir. What is most worrying for India's intelligence agencies is that, though they are aware that Zargar is in Pakistan, there is no clue about his exact whereabouts. And this has led to the fear that, in some secret camp, he is refining his plans before embarking on another reign of terror in the valley.

Ahmed Umar Saeed Sheikh

This British national of Pakistan origin, and an alumnus of the London School of Economics, is the most low profile of the troika. The only thing known to intelligence sources is that he lives a quiet life in Rawalpindi, following the Pakistani authorities's refusal to permit him to return to England.

The Pakistani authorities, intelligence sources say, are afraid of the possibility that, if Sheikh retrusngoes back to England, he is likely to be arrested and deported to India. Equally worrying for the ISI is the possibility that, if captured, Sheikh could reveal details of the ISI's involvement in militancy to Western authorities.

For now, the 27-year-old Sheikh shows no signs of a return to militancy, preferring instead to live a seemingly retired life. The black-belt holder in karate, sources indicate, has in fact come to the conclusion that his militant days are over.

Series Design: Dominic Xavier

The Hijack: One Year On