New Delhi/ Bilaspur: Two helicopter pilots of Deccan Aviation were detained in Himachal Pradesh for landing at a helipad in Bilaspur when the Prime Minister was about to take off on Monday.
The Himachal Pradesh Police took pilot K Mehta and co-pilot Col S M Sehgal into custody for allegedly breaching security by landing just as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was about to take off for Palampur after addressing an election rally in Bilaspur. The chopper pilots were to pick up Congress leader R K Dhawan.
Additional Superintendent of Police Bimal Bupta told CNN-IBN said the chopper crew was released after being booked under air traffic control rules and under Section 336 of the IPC dealing with acts endangering life and personal safety.
Officials of the Intelligence Bureau, Special Protection Group and the state police interrogated the pilots for several hours.
Deccan Aviation, in a press release, said the Air Traffic Control (ATC) cleared the helicopter, which has been impounded, at 1300 hours IST and didn’t inform its pilots about the Prime Minister’s movement.
The airline claimed its only after the pilots landed on the helipad that officials informed them that they were near Air Force helicopters meant for the PM’s air convoy.
On the last day of electioneering, the PM attacked the track record of the BJP in development in the state and accused the saffron party of raising religious, caste and regional issues to cover its no-show in economic achievements.
The economic progress of Himachal Pradesh had come to a halt every time BJP ruled the state since inception of the state in 1966, Singh told an election rally in Bilaspur.
The BJP has nothing to show as developmental achievements and is basing its poll campaign on religious, caste and regional issues, the Prime Minister alleged and asked the people not to get 'fooled' by 'empty promises' of BJP.
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