Royals' bid to take away Hitler's gift foiled

Kathmandu, Jun 16 (UNI) Some former royals' bid to take away from the Narayanhiti Palace, Hitler's gift to former king Tribhuvan -- a Daimler Benz -- was foiled just a couple of days before Mr Gyanendra Shah left the palace.

''An attempt was made to take the Daimler Benz out of the palace in the middle of the night last Sunday, but the bid was foiled after the security personnel did not allow a crane to enter the premises,'' Kantipur quoted a palace official as saying.

Even government sources confirmed that such a bid was foiled.

However, both the palace and government sources refused to identify the former royals who wanted to take away the antique 1938-model Mercedes Benz that is inside the palace, which was turned into a public museum yesterday.

Officials said they were planning to keep the vintage car inside the museum as a showpiece. They added that the car was in a very bad condition.

Before it was brought inside the palace three years ago, the car was in the garage of Thapathali Engineering Campus and was being used to train mechanics.

It is said the car was manually carried to Kathmandu by hundreds of labourers from the Terai bordering with India in 1940.

Tribhuvan, grandfather of Mr Gyanendra, used the car when the Kathmandu Valley had no other motor transport, it is said.

After Tribhuvan's death in the 1950s, the car was left to gather dust in the premises of the Thapathali Engineering Campus.

Mr Gyanendra left for Nagarjuna Palace last week after the government provided it as temporary residence for him.

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