Logic
In the military I can tell you that operations are generally Monday to Friday; this event occurred on the weekend which is the period of incompetence, including those learners monitoring radar, especially from areas not exactly known for their military prowess. Therefore most of this data and reporting needs to be treated with scepticism.
A hijacking usually is done to demand something using the lives of the passengers as collateral. If the hijacking was done to divert the cargo, it is highly unlikely that a somebody would sacrifice the lives of 200+ people purely for money, for a religion yes, but not asset gain.
The search should remain in the location where contact was lost.