Guwahati: With bad weather preventing aerial search operations to trace Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Dorjee Khandu ever since a Pawan Hans helicopter carrying him went missing since Saturday, the focus, now, is on ground operations in which Army, police, SSB and ITBP personnel have been involved.
The Eurocopter B-3, operated by Pawan Hans, was carrying Khandu, his 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 from Tawang to Itanagar.
According to sources, 80 per cent of Arunachal's 83,743 sq km area is covered by dense forests. Though not many appear certain how effective the ground search operation can be, officials concede that they are not left with much options with the inclement weather not allowing the air force to carry out sorties.
"With the weather showing no signs of improvement, the only option now is to carry out search operation on foot. Soldiers are criss-crossing the jungles and hilly terrains in search of Khandu and the other people who were on board the chopper," a senior Army official said.
"Till Sunday, 2,000 personnel were engaged in the search operation. The number was increased to 3,000 on Monday. They will carry out the search operation in all the terrains. Let's see if we can find anything," he added.
02/05/11 Times of India
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