Security agencies are exploring the possibility of the copter carrying Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Dorjee Khandu exploding in the air since no signals were transmitted from the copter, which happens in cases of crash landing. The copter is missing for four days and Isro images on Wednesday showed presence of metallic
objects 2.5 km inside Bhutan. Search teams consisting of 3,000 personnel from the Army, Border Roads Organisation, ITBP, SSB and Arunachal Pradesh police have been dispatched to the area after getting clearances from the Bhutanese government. Also an ITBP team from Dirang in East Kameng district in Arunachal Pradesh started for Nagajiji near Sela Pass after infra-red images from IAF Su30s detected an “aircraft-like” object.
On any possible “sabotage” attempt to the copter carrying the CM, a government official said that it can only be ruled out once the copter is located or its debris is found. The official said that the copter, used to ferry the CM, had flown from Itanagar and not Tawang so the chances of any tampering are bleak.
“According to inputs from the Arunachal government, local people have sighted something like an aircraft inside Bhutan. It is about 5 km inside Bhutan from the border. Having got the clearance from Bhutanese authorities, one of our teams started on foot this morning,” ITBP IG M.S. Bhurji told an agency. A small team of the Army is on standby to be inducted in the area by helicopter wherever the wreckage is spotted. Meanwhile, the sabotage theory came about with a section of security officials citing that Khandu is an ex-Army intelligence officer and known for pushing developmental works. An official said that the Bhutanese territory is also being used as a safe haven for ultras of N-E region. However, another official argued that prior to losing contact, the copter was on flight for nearly two-and-a-half hours from Itanagar to Guwahati and then to Tawang before undertaking the last flight. Civil aviation minister Vayalar Ravi said that there was no information or report available as yet about the whereabouts or location of the copter.
A DGCA official explained that the emergency locator transmitter may fail to transmit signals in case the copter has brushed against ‘’soft objects’’ such as treetops before crash landing.
Sources, meanwhile, said nothing has been found in an earlier location within a 66 sq km area in West Kameng district, where the Isro satellite imagery had found traces of several metallic objects.