Nepal PM Contender Sushila Karki’s Husband Linked To 1973 Plane Hijacking – NTV Telugu
Sushila Karki, Nepal’s former Chief Justice and now a frontrunner for the country’s interim Prime Minister, is back in the spotlight—not for her own record, but for her husband’s dramatic past.
Karki is married to Durga Prasad Subedi, once a youth leader of the Nepali Congress. The two reportedly met while studying at Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi. Subedi made headlines decades ago as one of the men behind Nepal’s very first plane hijacking in 1973.
The 1973 Hijacking
On June 10, 1973, Subedi, along with Nagendra Dhungel and Basanta Bhattarai, hijacked a Nepal Airlines plane. Bollywood actress Mala Sinha happened to be among the passengers that day.
According to reports, the operation was orchestrated by Girija Prasad Koirala, who later became Nepal’s Prime Minister four times. The goal was to raise money for an armed movement against King Mahendra’s monarchy.
A New York Times report from June 11, 1973, noted that three armed men boarded the small twin-engine aircraft as passengers. Once in the air, they showed the pilot a gun and ordered him to fly to Forbesganj in Bihar, India. The plane was carrying around $400,000 belonging to Nepal’s state bank.
No passengers or crew were harmed. After landing in Forbesganj, the hijackers were joined by five conspirators, including future Nepal PM Sushil Koirala, who later served three years in an Indian jail for his role. The group offloaded three boxes of cash before letting the plane continue to Kathmandu.
Aftermath
Most of the hijackers, including Subedi, were arrested within a year by Indian authorities. They served about two years in prison before being released on bail and eventually returned to Nepal.
Former diplomat Dinesh Bhattarai told Reuters in 2014 that the stolen money was meant to support the pro-democracy movement against Nepal’s absolute monarchy.
Now, with Sushila Karki emerging as a top contender for the interim premiership, her husband’s role in one of Nepal’s most dramatic political episodes has resurfaced in public discussion.
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