Fears of tragic death of Arunachal CM Dorjee Khandu has been aggravating as his whereabouts have not been traced for more than 36 hours. Confusion remains on the condition of Dorjee and his fellow aides on board in the Pawan Hans helicopter which is yet to be traced. ISRO and Army help in tracing the chopper did not yield any result till this hour. The incident is reminding the tragic death of AP Chief Minister YS Rajasekhar Reddy in a helicopter crash about one and half a year back. Dead bodies of YSR and his aides were traced by armed forces in Nallamala forest area after about 20 hours of the crash. But the whereabouts of Arunachal Pradesh’s CM remain in confusion after more than one and a half day.
It appears that some thing has gone drastically wrong with the helicopter carrying Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Dorjee Khandu and four others. The Eurocopter B-3 with two crew went missing since morning of 30th April 2011. It was flying over the densely forested hills near Tawang when it made last contact. The public authorities confirmed that the there was there was no trace of the aircraft till the early hours of 1st May 2011. This will be major helicopter crash after the similar tragic incident in Andhra Pradesh during September 2009, where then CM, YS Rajasekhar Reddy and 4 others were dead.
The Chopper that was carrying Arunachal CM Dorjee was operated by Pawan Hans. Other people in the helocopter include Khandu’s security officer, deputy superintendent of police Yeshi Choddak, Yeshi Lamu, the sister of Tawang MLA Tsewang Dhondup, and the two pilots, Captain B S Babbar and Captain K S Malick. Earlier in the afternoon of 30th April the Governer of Arunachal Pradesh has informed that the aircraft was landed safely and CM and other people were safe. But the latest official reports are confirming that the helicopter was not traced till 1 AM on 1st May 2011. The chopper was scheduled to land at Naharlagun helipad at 11.30 am.
The CM’s adviser, Kiren Rijiju said to media in Itanagar that the chief minister is still missing and the chopper is traceless. There were reports of a helicopter landing in Bhutan but the authorities denied it. But the Arunachal or Indian governments or IAF rescue teams did not confirm any crash. On April 9th 2011, another Pawan Hans helicopter flying from Guwahati to Itanagar went down, killing at least 17 passengers and crew.