1973 Nepal plane hijack

The 1973 Nepal plane hijack (also known as the Biratnagar Plane Hijack) was the first plane hijacking in the history of Nepal. It was masterminded by Girija Prasad Koirala, who would later be elected the Prime Minister of Nepal, to loot the money of Nepal Rastra Bank being carried by plane from Biratnagar to Kathmandu.

1973 Nepal plane hijack

The involved aircraft at Pokhara Airport forty years later
Hijack
Date	10 June 1973
Summary	Aircraft hijacking
Site	Forbesganj, Bihar, India
Aircraft
Aircraft type	de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter
Operator	Royal Nepal Airlines
Registration	9N-ABB
Flight origin	Biratnagar Airport, Biratnagar, Nepal
Destination	Tribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu, Nepal
Passengers	19
Fatalities	0
Injuries	0
Survivors	19

The purpose of the hijacking was to gather funds for an armed revolution to restore multi-party democracy in the country, which was under the party-less Panchayat system governed by the King.

Aircraft

The aircraft was a DHC-6 Twin Otter (Registration: 9N-ABB) and was delivered to Royal Nepal Airlines brand-new in 1971.[1]

Hijackers

Girija Prasad Koirala was the mastermind behind the hijack. He wanted an armed fight for democracy in Nepal, but did not have the funds to do so. He met Durga Subedi, another democratic fighter, who was just released from prison, where he read about the hijacking of Japan Airlines Flight 351, for which he came up with the idea of a plane hijack to collect the funds by carrying out a similar hijack.[2][3] They received a tip from Madan Aryal worked at Nepal Rastra Bank in Biratnagar and knew that the bank would transport Indian currency by plane through Biratnagar. Nagendra Dhungel and Basanta Bhattarai joined the team to hijack the plane.[4]

Crew and passengers

Three crew members and 19 passengers were on board the flight, including Nepali actress Mala Sinha.[2]

Hijacking

On 10 June 1973, Nepal Rastra Bank was transporting Indian currency notes from Arrariya, India to Kathmandu via Biratnagar. It was transported to Biratnagar by land and was supposed to be taken to Kathmandu by air. At 8:30 NPT, the 19-seater Royal Nepal Airlines[5] Twin Otter passenger aircraft took off for Kathmandu from Biratnagar. The three hijackers hijacked the within five minutes of take-off. They forced the pilot to land the plane in Forbesganj, Bihar, in a grass field and took 3 million Indian rupees that belonged to the Nepalese government.[6] The hijackers who boarded the plane were Basanta Bhattarai, Durga Subedi, and Nagendra Prasad Dhungel. Girija Prasad Koirala and Chakra Prasad Banstola were involved in transporting the loot to Darjeeling and hiding it in the house of B. L. Sharma, an acquaintance of BP Koirala.[7] Ganesh Sharma, an Indian national, had driven a jeep to the landing site.[6] Other members involved who were at the field in Forbesganj were Binod Aryal, Sushil Koirala , Manahari Baral, Rajendra Dahal and Biru Lama. Three different vehicles were used in transporting the three boxes of cash to Darjeeling.[6]

Weapons used

The pistols that they used were illegal and had no license. They used two 32 revolvers and one 36 grenade bomb..

Aftermath

The plane took off immediately with the passengers after the boxes of cash were taken out. The hijackers went to Darjeeling, and then to Banaras and Mumbai. They occasionally made trips to New Delhi to meet BP Koirala, the then President of Nepali Congress. However, within a year the hijackers were arrested in India except Nagendra Dhungel. After the 1975 Emergency in India ended, they were released on bail.[6]

The aircraft flew in Nepalese skies for 41 years, before the crash of Nepal Airlines Flight 183 in 2014. The parts of the aircraft were brought to Nepalganj and were put together again and are currently being exhibited in the BP Museum based in Sundarijal in Kathmandu.[8][9]

In 2017, a political and historical documentary dealing with this incident titled Hijacking for Democracy was made and screened at the Nepal Tourism Board in Bhrikutimandap, Kathmandu.[10]

Controversies

It has been alleged that the money, meant to be used in the struggle for democracy, was misused. BP Koirala himself suspected that the money was misused.[6]

See also

Indian Airlines Flight 814

References

1. "9N-ABB". Twin Otter Archive. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
2. The skyjack that shook Panchayat. Buddha Air. April 2010. pp. 4–5. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
3. "Democratic fighter Durga Subedi's autobiography launched". The Kathmandu Post. 10 August 2018. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
4. "Tell-all account of 1973 hijacking hits shelves". The Kathmandu Post. 12 August 2018. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
5. "The Panchayat System under King Mahendra", Country Studies/Area Handbook Series, U.S. Library of Congress
6. Post Bahadur Basnet, "Operation Ganesh out, place hijack plan in" Archived September 29, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, Republica, April 1, 2010
7. Madhav Ghimire and Lilaballav Ghimire, "GPK and the hijack", The Kathmandu Post, March 27, 2010
8. "Aircraft hijacked by Nepali Congress in 1973 to be put in museum". República. 19 May 2016. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
9. "Plane hijacked by Nepali Congress in Kathmandu for display". The Himalayan Times. 22 May 2016. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
10. "Documentary on Nepal plane hijacking screened". The Kathmandu Post. 11 August 2017. Retrieved 1 September 2018.

Further reading

• Subedi, Durga (2018). विमान विद्रोह - एउटा राजनीतिक अपहरणको बयान (in Nepali). Kitab Publishers Pvt. Ltd., Kathmandu.

External links

• "The skyjack that shook Panchayat"