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.
Contents
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.
Hijacking
On June 10, 1973, three members of the Nepali Congress hijacked a 19-seater Royal Nepal Airlines Twin Otter passenger aircraft bound for Kathmandu from Biratnagar 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 main hijackers who boarded the plane were Basant 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. Ganesh Sharma, an Indian national, had driven 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.
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. The hijackers were tipped off by an employee of the Biratnagar branch of the Bank, Madan Aryal, a brother of Binod Aryal.
Weapons used
The pistols that they used were illegal and had no license.
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 would occasionally make 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 Pd. Dhungel. After the 1975 Emergency in India ended, they were released on bail.
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.