Jalandhar: They both had hijacked Indian Airlines planes separately, demanding release of their respective leaders from jail. Over three decades later, one of them is a Congress candidate from Salempur Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh and the other is still on the 'most wanted' list of India and is believed to be living in exile in Pakistan.
Congress' decision to field Bholanath Pandey, who had hijacked an Indian Airlines flight demanding Indira Gandhi's release from jail in 1978, from Salempur for the fourth time has irked Sikh group Dal Khalsa as it compared the plight of its leader Gajinder Singh, who had hijacked an IA aircraft in 1981, with Pandey.
Gajinder's name still figures in India's most wanted list. Recently, a compilation of his poems was released in Amritsar by Dal Khalsa. Bholanath Pandey and his friend Devandar Nath Pandey had hijacked IA flight IC 410 on December 20, 1978, demanding the release of Indira Gandhi and withdrawal of all cases against her son Sanjay Gandhi. After keeping 132 passengers hostage for some hours, the duo, who were carrying only toy weapons, surrendered. According to Dal Khalsa, Pandey was rewarded by Congress after the incident - first he got party ticket for assembly polls in 1980 and later for Lok Sabha.
03/04/14 IP Singh/Times of India
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Congress' decision to field Bholanath Pandey, who had hijacked an Indian Airlines flight demanding Indira Gandhi's release from jail in 1978, from Salempur for the fourth time has irked Sikh group Dal Khalsa as it compared the plight of its leader Gajinder Singh, who had hijacked an IA aircraft in 1981, with Pandey.
Gajinder's name still figures in India's most wanted list. Recently, a compilation of his poems was released in Amritsar by Dal Khalsa. Bholanath Pandey and his friend Devandar Nath Pandey had hijacked IA flight IC 410 on December 20, 1978, demanding the release of Indira Gandhi and withdrawal of all cases against her son Sanjay Gandhi. After keeping 132 passengers hostage for some hours, the duo, who were carrying only toy weapons, surrendered. According to Dal Khalsa, Pandey was rewarded by Congress after the incident - first he got party ticket for assembly polls in 1980 and later for Lok Sabha.
03/04/14 IP Singh/Times of India
