GUWAHATI: A Pawan Hans helicopter carrying an IAS officer and three others went missing in Arunachal Pradesh on Tuesday.
Official sources said Deputy Commissioner of Tirap district Kamlesh Joshi and his personal assistant were onboard the chopper. The other two were pilot and a crew member.
The chopper was reported missing while flying from Khonsa to Changlang.
“An aerial search operation was conducted by the Indian Air Force personnel, but the search parties could not locate the missing helicopter. The search will resume on Wednesday morning,” official sources said.
Incidents involving helicopters are not new in the state. In 2011, the then Arunachal Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu and four others died in a chopper crash. A few days later, another chopper crashed while landing at the Tawang helipad, killing 16 people.
A PTI report said the chopper took off from Khonsa with Joshi on board at around 10.30 am and was on its way to Longding and Changlang when it went missing.
The Air Traffic Control lost touch with the helicopter since 11.15 am, officials said.
A “helicopter-like object” was “sighted” in the dense jungles near Deomali area in Tirap district, Chief Secretary Ramesh Negi said quoting Army sources, adding that the security personnel were unable to reach it due to inclement weather and hostile terrain. Three columns of Army along with state police and Assam police are on search and rescue operation, he said.
A blast was heard near Kalagaon and Lamlou villages in the district, Bosai said quoting villagers.