1973 hijack resurfaces amid Nepal crisis: Sushila Karki’s husband seized plane carrying Bollywood star Mala Sinha

As Nepal reels from deadly youth-led protests that have toppled Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, former chief justice Sushila Karki has emerged as one of the frontrunners to become the country’s interim leader. Her reputation for judicial reform and anti-corruption rulings has made her a rallying point for Gen Z demonstrators. But as Karki rises to national prominence, the past of her husband, Durga Prasad Subedi, is drawing renewed attention.

Subedi, once a youth leader in the Nepali Congress, was involved in Nepal’s first-ever aircraft hijacking more than fifty years ago. According to contemporaneous accounts, the operation was designed to fund an “armed struggle” against King Mahendra’s monarchy and was masterminded by Girija Prasad Koirala, who would later become Nepal’s prime minister.

The hijacking that made history

On 10 June 1973, a Canadian-built 19-seat Twin Otter aircraft of Royal Nepal Airlines took off from Biratnagar for Kathmandu. Among its passengers were well-known actor couple CP Lohani of Nepal and India’s Mala Sinha, famous for Bollywood hits such as Pyaasa and Geet.

Mid-flight, three members of the Nepali Congress seized the plane. Durga Prasad Subedi, along with Nagendra Dhungel and Basanta Bhattarai, forced the pilot to land on a grassy strip at Forbesganj in Bihar, India. Five conspirators were waiting on the ground. One of them was Sushil Koirala, who also went on to become Nepal’s prime minister.

The hijackers removed three boxes of cash amounting to 30 lakh rupees of government money. The plane then took off again with the remaining passengers unharmed. The money was reportedly transported by road to Darjeeling in West Bengal.

At the time of the hijacking Subedi had recently been released from jail and was regarded as a close aide of Girija Prasad Koirala. Within a year, all members of the group except Dhungel were arrested by Indian authorities. Subedi and others were jailed for two years and were released during India’s Emergency in 1975.

Karki’s candidacy and the protests

Now, more than five decades later, Subedi’s wife stands at the centre of Nepal’s political turmoil. Karki’s name has been floated by Gen Z protesters who accuse the political elite of corruption, nepotism and economic mismanagement. “Sushila Karki will be appointed interim prime minister,” a constitutional expert consulted by Nepal’s President Ramchandra Paudel and Army chief Ashok Raj Sigdel told Reuters on Friday (September 12). “They (Gen Z) want her. This will happen today,” the source added.

Karki’s candidacy, however, is not without hurdles. Nepal’s constitution bars retired justices from holding political or constitutional office, a provision that could derail her appointment. Protesters are also divided, with another faction proposing Kulman Ghising, the former managing director of the Nepal Electricity Authority who is credited with ending years-long power outages. Kathmandu Mayor Balendra Shah has endorsed dissolving Parliament, a key demand of the demonstrators, and has also backed Karki’s interim leadership.

At least 19 people were killed when police opened fire on protesters on Tuesday. The death toll has since risen to 34 and more than 1,300 people have been injured, according to Nepal’s health ministry.

As the crisis unfolds, the story of Nepal’s possible interim leader cannot be told without the dramatic history of her husband, who once helped hijack a plane to fund a revolution.