Grinder Muivah discharged after hijack charges dropped in 2000

Grinder Muivah, arrested in 2000 in Kolkata on the charge that he attempted hijacking an Indian Airlines aircraft, was later discharged by a court.

Aizawl: Grinder Muivah, the nephew of NSCN (I-M) General Secretary Th. Muivah, who died of stroke in Delhi yesterday, was an important go-between in the talks between the Centre and the NSCN (I-M).

Grinder Muivah, who had been arrested in 2000 in Kolkata on the charge that he attempted hijacking an Indian Airlines aircraft operating between Aizawl and Kolkata, was later found not guilty and discharged by a court.

Grinder Muivah had returned from Bangkok and put in custody at the Netaji Subash Chandra Bose International Airport, Kolkata on March seven, 2000 after his alleged accomplice Ranju Rangan, posing as Director of the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation was arrested at the lone Lengpui Airport near Aizawl about a fortnight before Muivah's arrest in Kolkata in 2000.

Police had then alleged that the duo was planning to hijack an aircraft to secure the release of the NSCN (I-M) leader, then languishing in a Bangkok jail, a state official said today quoting records.

Grinder Muivah was, however, discharged after the charges could not be proved and the court ordered his release.

He was instrumental between the peace talks of Centre and NSCN (IM).