__NOTOC__ Bholanath Pandey and Devendra Pandey on December 20, 1978 hijacked Indian Airlines Flight 410, en-route on a domestic flight from

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...

, and forced it land at

Varanasi Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. * * * * The city has a syncretic t ...

. They demanded the release of Indira Gandhi (who had been arrested after The Emergency) and the withdrawal of all the cases against her son

Sanjay Gandhi Sanjay Gandhi (14 December 1946 23 June 1980) was an Indian politician and the younger son of Indira Gandhi and Feroze Gandhi. He was a member of parliament, Lok Sabha and the Nehru–Gandhi family. During his lifetime, he was widely expected ...

. They carried only

toy weapon Toy guns are toys which imitate real guns, but are designed for recreational sport or casual play by children. From hand-carved wooden replicas to factory-produced pop guns From Gilroy Gardens and cap guns, toy guns come in all sizes, price ...

s. After keeping 130 passengers and crew hostage in the

Boeing 737-200 The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton Factory in Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating with two u ...

for some hours, they surrendered in the presence of media. The

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...

party rewarded them with party tickets for the 1980 state assembly election; both won the election and became members of the legislative assembly of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

. Bhola served as a Congress MLA from 1980 to

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

and

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs ...

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

from

Ballia Ballia is a city with a municipal board in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The eastern boundary of the city lies at the junction of two major rivers, the Ganges and the Ghaghara.The city is situated east of Varanasi and about 380 ...

and Devendra remained a member of the house for two terms. Devendra resigned from the party as a general secretary of the

Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) is the Pradesh Congress Committee (state wing) of the Indian National Congress (INC) serving in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Congress Working Committee Appointed Priyanka Gandhi as General Secretary of UP ...

. Bhola Pandey also became general secretary of the

Indian Youth Congress The Indian Youth Congress is the youth wing of the Indian National Congress party. The Indian Youth Congress was a department of the Indian National Congress from the period just after the Partition of India in 1947 until the late 1960s. While ...

and secretary of the Indian National Congress. Bhola Pandey unsuccessfully contested the

, 1996,

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

, 2004, 2009 and

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-p ...

elections from Salempur as a Congress candidate. Devendra never served the party as a general secretary ever again of Uttar Pradesh.

References

External links

*

Business Standard, 18 March 2014.
IC 410 Plane Hijackers become MLA’s in India
Mythgyaan, 27 March 2019. Hijackers Living people United Progressive Alliance candidates in the 2014 Indian general election Criminal duos Year of birth missing (living people) Aircraft hijackings in India Crime in Uttar Pradesh Indian (airline) accidents and incidents Aviation accidents and incidents in India Aviation accidents and incidents in 1978 1978 in India December 1978 events in Asia Accidents and incidents involving the Boeing 737 Original Desai administration Hostage taking in India Terrorist incidents in India Indian National Congress politicians from Uttar Pradesh {{UttarPradesh-INC-politician-stub

See also

References

Further reading

External links