New Delhi: The home ministry plans to hire military-class helicopters to ferry troops and supplies in the battle against Maoists, the first time such private choppers will be used in internal security operations.
Six new Mi-17 helicopters could be making sorties to rebel hotbeds like Chattisgarh’s Abujhmad and Bengal’s Lalgarh by August, ministry sources said. The choppers will be “wet leased”, which means the private operator will have to provide the pilots and engineers besides maintaining the aircraft and spending on fuel.
The move will help the ministry to reduce its dependence on the ministry of defence for flying paramilitary troops to rebel zones in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bengal, Orissa and other rebel-hit states, where thousands of paramilitary personnel are deployed along with the police of those states in anti-Naxalite operations. At least two of the six choppers could be stationed in Chhattisgarh, among the worst hit.
The choppers are being leased from a consortium of two companies, India’s Global Vectra and Russia’s Utair, chosen by the ministry last month after almost a year of examining proposals from several operators, the sources said.
Deploying military choppers in civilian areas may had initially sparked a debate but the security establishment argued they were needed to keep troop casualties down and fight Maoists in their strongholds.
07/05/11 Nishit Dholabhai/The Telegraph
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