Pakistan Train Hijack: In Pakistan, the Baloch Liberation Army on Tuesday took control of the Jaffar Express in Bolan, holding hundreds of passengers hostage. Among those on board were personnel from the Pakistani Army and intelligence agency ISI.
Pakistani military forces have launched an operation in response to the hijacking. According to reports, six soldiers have lost their lives in the ensuing action. This incident brings back memories of past train hijackings, including cases in India and other countries.
Train Hijackings In India
2013 Jan Shatabdi Train Hijack
In India, a train hijacking incident took place on 6 February 2013. The Jan Shatabdi Express was hijacked on the Mumbai-Howrah main railway line between Sirsa Gate and Kumhari for nearly 13 kilometres. The case was linked to the infamous Jaychand kidnapping case of 2001, in which businessman Jaychand Vaidya was abducted and held hostage for 44 days.
Upendra Singh, alias Kabra, was identified as the mastermind of the train hijack. Singh had earlier escaped from jail before executing the hijacking. Six individuals were convicted in the case and sentenced to life imprisonment.
2009 Bhubaneswar-Rajdhani Express Hijack
In 2009, another train hijacking took place in India when armed Maoists seized the Bhubaneswar-Rajdhani Express in Junglemahal. Around 300-400 Maoists took control of the train, holding hundreds of passengers and railway staff hostage.
The hijacking was reportedly carried out on the instructions of Maoist leader Chhatradhar Mahato. Security forces, including 20 police officers and nearly 150 CRPF personnel, launched a rescue operation, successfully freeing the train and its passengers. No casualties were reported among passengers or train staff.
Notable Train Hijackings Worldwide
1975 Netherlands Train Hijack
On 2 December 1975, seven South Moluccans hijacked a train with 50 passengers near Wijster, Netherlands. The siege lasted for 12 days, resulting in the deaths of three hostages. Simultaneously, another group of South Moluccans took hostages at the Indonesian Consulate in Amsterdam.
The hijackers were protesting against the Dutch government, which had promised them an independent state, the Republic of South Maluku (RMS). The situation ended on 14 December when the hijackers surrendered due to severe weather conditions and fears of retaliation in the Moluccan islands. The attackers were sentenced to 14 years in prison, with one of them, Eli Hahury, later committing suicide in 1978.
1977 Dutch Train Hijacking
On 23 May 1977, another train hijacking occurred in the Netherlands near De Punt. Nine armed Moluccan nationalists took over 50 passengers hostage, demanding Dutch assistance in achieving Moluccan independence and the release of 21 prisoners.
The hijacking, which lasted 20 days, ended on 11 June when Dutch special forces stormed the train. In the raid, six hijackers and two hostages were killed. On the same day, another group of Moluccans took over 100 hostages at a primary school in Bovensmilde, further escalating tensions.
1923 Lincheng Train Hijack in China
One of the earliest recorded train hijackings occurred on 5 May 1923 in China. A group of 1,200 bandits, mostly former soldiers, derailed the “Blue Express” near Lincheng on the Tianjin-Pukou Railway. The attackers looted the train and killed multiple Chinese passengers, as well as a British citizen, Joseph Rothman.
The bandits took 300 passengers hostage, including 25 Westerners, and forced them on a 10-day march to their mountain hideout. High-profile hostages included Lucy Aldrich, daughter of U.S. Senator Nelson Aldrich, and Commodore Giuseppe Musso. The hostages were eventually released on 12 June 1923 after a ransom of $85,000 (equivalent to $1.2 million today) was secured by Shanghai Green Gang leader Du Yuesheng.
James Zimmerman in his book The Peking Express: The Bandits Who Stole a Train, Stunned the West, and Broke the Republic of China, details the shootings and the diplomatic crisis that ensued from the 1923 Lincheng Train Hijack. It is believed that the incident contributed to the fall of the Chinese government of the day. In December 1926, Communist leader and People’s Republic of China founder Mao Zedong, popularly known as Mao, in a speech in Hunan province, cited the “Lincheng Incident” to stress the need for a political strategy to help the peasants overturn the warlords.
With Inputs by Pranjul Srivastava
