Bpk at 14:45, 17 March 2026

2026-03-17T14:45:58Z

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{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{short description|Plane hijacking in Nepal}}
{{Infobox Aircraft occurrence
|name = 1973 Royal Nepal Airlines DHC-6 hijacking
|occurrence_type = Hijack
|date = 10 June 1973
|summary = [[Aircraft hijacking]]
|site = [[Forbesganj]], [[Bihar]], [[India]]
|aircraft_type = [[de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter]]
|aircraft_name =
|operator = [[Royal Nepal Airlines]]
|tail_number = 9N-ABB
|origin = [[Biratnagar Airport]], Biratnagar, Nepal
|destination = [[Tribhuvan International Airport]], Kathmandu, Nepal
|occupants = 22
|passengers = 19
|crew = 3
|injuries = 0
|fatalities = 0
|survivors = 22
|image=File:Pokhara Airport (9032278612).jpg|alt=|caption=The involved aircraft at [[Pokhara Airport]] forty years later|coordinates=|missing=|stopover=|stopover0=|last_stopover=|image_upright=}}

The '''1973 Royal Nepal Airlines DHC-6 hijacking''' (also known as the '''Biratnagar Plane Hijack''') was the first [[aircraft hijacking]] in the history of [[Nepal]].

The main motive for this incident was to gather funds for an armed revolution to restore [[Multi-party system|multi-party]] democracy by overthrowing the party-less [[Panchayat (Nepal)|Panchayat]] system headed by the [[King of Nepal|King in Nepal]], [[Mahendra of Nepal]].

==Aircraft==
The aircraft was a [[de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter|DHC-6 Twin Otter]] (Registration: 9N-ABB) and was delivered to Royal Nepal Airlines in 1971.<ref>{{cite web |title=9N-ABB |url=http://twinotterarchive.com/DHC-6_302.html |publisher=Twin Otter Archive |accessdate=1 October 2018}}</ref>

==Hijackers==
[[Durga Prasad Subedi|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.<ref name="Buddha Air">{{cite book |title=The skyjack that shook Panchayat |date=April 2010 |publisher=Buddha Air |pages=4–5 |url=https://www.buddhaair.com/downloads/get/yatra-issue-april-2010.html |accessdate=1 October 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Democratic fighter Durga Subedi's autobiography launched |url=http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2018-08-10/democratic-fighter-durga-subedis-autobiography-launched.html |publisher=The Kathmandu Post |accessdate=1 October 2018 |date=10 August 2018}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tell-all account of 1973 hijacking hits shelves |url=http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2018-08-12/tell-all-account-of-1973-hijacking-hits-shelves.html |publisher=The Kathmandu Post |accessdate=1 October 2018 |date=12 August 2018}}</ref>

==Crew and passengers==
Three crew members and 19 passengers were on board the flight, including actress [[Mala Sinha]].<ref name="Buddha Air"/>

==Hijacking==
On 10 June 1973, Nepal Rastra Bank planned to transport [[Indian rupee|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 [[Nepal Time|NPT]], the 19-seater [[Nepal Airlines|Royal Nepal Airlines]]<ref name="CS-USLoC" /> [[De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter|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.<ref name="BasnetRepublica" />

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]].<ref name="GhimireTKP" /> Ganesh Sharma, an Indian national, arrived with a jeep to the landing site.<ref name="BasnetRepublica" /> 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.<ref name="BasnetRepublica" />

==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 [[Bishweshwar Prasad Koirala|BP Koirala]], then the President of Nepali Congress. However, within a year all hijackers were arrested in India except Nagendra Dhungel. After the [[The Emergency (India)|1975 Emergency in India]] ended, they were released on bail.<ref name="BasnetRepublica" />

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.<ref>{{cite web |title=Aircraft hijacked by Nepali Congress in 1973 to be put in museum |url=http://admin.myrepublica.com/politics/story/42658/aircraft-hijacked-by-nepali-congress-in-1973-to-be-put-in-museum.html |publisher=República |accessdate=1 September 2018 |date=19 May 2016 |archive-date=5 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180905175709/http://admin.myrepublica.com/politics/story/42658/aircraft-hijacked-by-nepali-congress-in-1973-to-be-put-in-museum.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Plane hijacked by Nepali Congress in Kathmandu for display |url=https://thehimalayantimes.com/kathmandu/plane-hijacked-by-nepali-congress-in-kathmandu-for-display/ |publisher=The Himalayan Times |accessdate=1 September 2018 |date=22 May 2016}}</ref>

In 2017, a political and historical documentary about this incident titled ''Hijacking for Democracy'' was screened at the [[Nepal Tourism Board]] in Bhrikutimandap, Kathmandu.<ref>{{cite web |title=Documentary on Nepal plane hijacking screened |url=http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2017-08-11/documentary-on-nepal-plane-hijacking-screened.html |publisher=The Kathmandu Post |accessdate=1 September 2018 |date=11 August 2017}}</ref>

==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.<ref name="BasnetRepublica" />

==See also==
* [[Indian Airlines Flight 814]]

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="BasnetRepublica">Post Bahadur Basnet, [http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=16917 "Operation Ganesh out, place hijack plan in"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150929165625/http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=16917 |date=September 29, 2015 }}, ''Republica'', April 1, 2010</ref>
<ref name="GhimireTKP">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</ref>
<ref name="CS-USLoC">[http://www.countrystudies.us/nepal/19.htm "The Panchayat System under King Mahendra"], ''Country Studies/Area Handbook Series, U.S. Library of Congress''</ref>
}}

==Further reading==
* Subedi, Durga (2018). ''विमान विद्रोह - एउटा राजनीतिक अपहरणको बयान'' (in [[Nepali language|Nepali]]). Kitab Publishers Pvt. Ltd., Kathmandu.

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20100918172317/http://buddhaair.com/yatra/2010_april.pdf "The skyjack that shook Panchayat"]

{{Aviation accidents and incidents in 1973}}
{{Aviation accidents and incidents in Nepal}}
{{Aviation accidents and incidents in India}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nepal plane hijack, 1973}}
[[Category:Aircraft hijackings in Asia]]
[[Category:1973 in Nepal]]
[[Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in 1973]]
[[Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in Nepal]]
[[Category:Aviation accidents and incidents involving the de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter]]
[[Category:Nepal Airlines accidents and incidents]]
[[Category:1973 crimes in Nepal]]
[[Category:1973 disasters in Nepal]]
[[Category:1970s in Bihar]]
[[Category:1973 crimes in India]]
[[Category:Forbesganj]]
[[Category:India–Nepal relations]]
[[Category:Hijackings in 1973]]

1973 Royal Nepal Airlines DHC-6 hijacking - Revision history

Bpk at 14:45, 17 March 2026