1973 Royal Nepal Airlines DHC-6 hijacking

Aircraft

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

Hijackers

Durga Subedi was recently released from prison, where he read about the hijacking of Japan Airlines Flight 351. He came up with the idea of a plane hijack to collect the funds by carrying out a similar hijack. They were tipped from Madan Aryal who 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.

Crew and passengers

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

Hijacking

On 10 June 1973, Nepal Rastra Bank planned to transport Indian Rupees from Araria district (Bihar), India to Kathmandu via Biratnagar. It was transported to Biratnagar by land, and was supposed then go to Kathmandu by air. At 8:30 NPT, the 19-seater Royal Nepal Airlines Twin Otter passenger aircraft took off for Kathmandu from Biratnagar. The three hijackers hijacked the plane 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.

The hijackers who boarded the plane were Basanta Bhattarai, Durga Subedi, and Nagendra Prasad Dhungel. Girija Prasad Koirala and Chakra Prasad Bastola were involved in transportation of the loot to Darjeeling. They hid it in the house of B. L. Sharma, an acquaintance of Bishweshwar Prasad Koirala. Ganesh Sharma, an Indian national, arrived with a jeep to the landing site. 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.

Aftermath

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

The DH-6 was used afterward for Nepalese flights for another 41 years, until it was destroyed in the 2014 crash of Nepal Airlines Flight 183. The parts of the aircraft were brought to Nepalganj and were put together again and are currently being exhibited in the BP Museum in Sundarijal, Kathmandu.

In 2017, a political and historical documentary about this incident titled Hijacking for Democracy was screened at the Nepal Tourism Board in Bhrikutimandap, Kathmandu.

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.

References

References

1. "9N-ABB". Twin Otter Archive.
2. (April 2010). "The skyjack that shook Panchayat". Buddha Air.
3. (10 August 2018). "Democratic fighter Durga Subedi's autobiography launched". The Kathmandu Post.
4. (12 August 2018). "Tell-all account of 1973 hijacking hits shelves". The Kathmandu Post.
5. (19 May 2016). "Aircraft hijacked by Nepali Congress in 1973 to be put in museum". República.
6. (22 May 2016). "Plane hijacked by Nepali Congress in Kathmandu for display". The Himalayan Times.
7. (11 August 2017). "Documentary on Nepal plane hijacking screened". The Kathmandu Post.
8. link. (September 29, 2015 , ''Republica'', April 1, 2010)
9. Madhav Ghimire and Lilaballav Ghimire, [http://www.ekantipur.com/2010/03/27/oped/gpk-and-the-hijack/311118/ "GPK and the hijack"], ''The Kathmandu Post'', March 27, 2010
10. [http://www.countrystudies.us/nepal/19.htm "The Panchayat System under King Mahendra"], ''Country Studies/Area Handbook Series, U.S. Library of Congress''