Andhra Police send to confirm report on missing Ranbaxy copter

      Raipur, November 13, 2008: Andhra Pradesh Police today said they have sent police parties to confirm a report of some villagers found wreckage of the Bell-430 helicopter, which went missing from Hyderabad on August 3, last while en route to Chhattisgarh, a top official said today.

      After received report of having seen wreckage by some villagers of the Ran Air, police parties have been sent to the area, Khammam District Superintendent of Police Devendra Singh Chouhan told ChhattisgarhTopNews.Com by phone.

      Only after parties reached the spot, police can confirm or deny that report, he said.

      The SP said the said spot was located in Venkatpura police station area under Khammam Police station of Andhra Pradesh and close to Usur Police Station area of Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh.

      The Ranbaxy copter was to land at 4.30 PM at Jagdalpur, the headquarters of Bastar region, on August 3 after its take off from Hyderabad at 3.00 PM but in between it lost contact and the whereabouts of the copter was not known to any one, Bastar Range Inspector General of Police A N Upadhyaya also told ChhattisgarhTopNews.Com.

      After searches by helicopters from Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh besides Indian Air Force failed to provide any result, forces were sent to various places spread over districts like Bijapur, Dantewada, Bastar, Kanker, and even Dhamtari in Chhattisgarh to trace the missing copter, the IGP said.

      The help of the National Remote Sensing Agency had also not yielded any result, officials said adding subsequently the aerial search had also been withdrawn. 

       IG Upadhyaya said today he was trying to be in touch with Andhra Police to get more information on that matter.

       Chhattisgarh government had hired the missing helicopter from Ran Air to take its Home Minister Ram Vichar Netam to Jharkhand but before it landed in Raipur to take the VIP, the copter went missing with Chief Pilot Capt V P Singh and Co-Pilot R Gaur and Flight Engineer Santosh Kumar and Technician Ashwini Kumar on board, Chief Pilot of Chhattisgarh Government Squadron Leader Dibya Shankar Mishra said.