1973 Royal Nepal Airlines DHC-6 hijacking

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 democracy by overthrowing the party-less Panchayat system headed by the King in Nepal, Mahendra of Nepal.

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.