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U.P.: Accused in 1990 plane hijacking against Mandal report implementation gets bail
As the plane went up, the student leaders of the time announced that they had hijacked the plane against the Mandal commission report.
The court of the metropolitan magistrate (II) here on Thursday granted bail to Nav Tiwari—one of the three accused in a case of plane hijacking committed 33 years ago against the implementation of the Mandal Commission report.
The Kolkata-bound plane, which was carrying the then Union civil aviation minister Arif Mohammad Khan (incumbent Kerala governor), was allegedly forced to land at Chakeri airport in Kanpur. The court recently issued a non bailable warrant against Tiwari who was the state president of National Student Union of India (NSUI). The other two accused were former presidents of Kanpur’s Christ Church College student union Rajesh Singh and Mohd Tahir.
Senior lawyer Manoj Singh, who represented Tiwari in the court, claimed the incident had made the national headlines on August 14, 1990. “The three accused had followed the civil aviation minister into the aircraft with a firearm. The Boeing 737 plane belonged to the Indian Airlines,” he said.
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As the plane went up, the student leaders of the time announced that they had hijacked the plane against the Mandal commission report, he added. Apart from Khan, his wife Reshma Arif, a UP minister Vikramaditya Pandey, minister from Bihar Dasai Chowdhary were also on-board the plane.
The plane made an emergency landing in Kanpur where army men captured the three following which they were arrested and sent to jail. They were given bail at that time. Singh said the metropolitan magistrate (II) issued a non bailable warrant against Nav Tiwari for not appearing in the court in this case the FIR for which was lodged on September 6, 1990. Tiwari on Thursday appeared before the court which granted him bail again.
One of the accused Mohammad Tahir passed away in 2017. When contacted, Tiwari claimed that the hijacking of the plane had caused a furore and brought the Mandal issue to the centre stage then.
