NEW DELHI: A Dubai-bound plane was forced to make an emergency landing after a gunman stormed into the cockpit and attempted to hijack the aircraft. The attempt to hijack the flight was made at Shah Amanat International Airport in Chattogram, some 250 km from Dhaka. The Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight BG 147 was enroute to Dubai from Dhaka via Chattogram.

According to reports, the gunman allegedly opened fire as the cabin crew tried to restrain him. As the drama unfolded, the gunman told the crew he was wearing a suicide vest and demanded to speak with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

"He fired a shot. When the pilot pursued him, he said he wanted to talk to the prime minister," RT quoted an eyewitness as saying.

Army, Navy and elite police cordoned off the plane soon after it landed at the airport and all 142 passengers were disembarked from the flight.

“A passenger reported to the authorities that he noticed something like a gun with a fellow-passenger on-board the flight that was flying from Dhaka. As soon as the flight landed at Chittagong, the officials evacuated the passengers from the flight,” Gulf News quoted a senior Bangladeshi official as saying.

According to army Major General Matiur Rahman, the suspect, a Bangladeshi national identified as Mahadi, refused to surrender when asked to, forcing "the commandos to go for action (firing)", which "lasted eight minutes".

"He (hijacker) succumbed to his wounds after the military commandos captured him (with gunshots)," Rahman told a media briefing at Chattogram airport, adding that the suspect was carrying a gun.

Air force's Chattgram base commander Air Vice Marshal Mufidur Rahman, who was also present at the media briefing, said he kept the hijacker engaged in talks while special forces units prepared for the raid.

"The man repeatedly wanted to talk to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina," he said, adding that the hijacker allowed the passengers to disembark the plane during the negotiation process.

Meanwhile, in a press conference in Dhaka, Bangladesh Civil Aviation Authority (CAAB) Chairman Air Vice Marshal Naim Hassan said the hijacker was equipped with a hand gun and explosives. An investigation would be carried out to determine how the man boarded the aircraft with arms and explosives, he said.