Arunachal Pradesh CM Khandu still missing

The Pawan Hans Helicopter flying from Tawang to Itanagar with Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu is still missing.

The helicopter that took off from Tawang at 9.50 a.m. on Saturday had lost communication with the ground after it flew past the Sela Pass along the Chinese border about 20 to 25 minutes later. The helicopter was scheduled to land in Itanagar at 11.30 a.m. on Saturday.

Official sources in the Arunachal Pradesh Government have said that they are attempting to get in touch with some witnesses in Bhutan who have claimed seeing a chopper descending in their area, and then taking off in a north easterly direction.

A massive search operation was called off on Sunday evening due to inclement weather and receding light.

Two Sukhoi-30 aircraft and other Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft had been deployed for the operation.

The Sukhoi-30 jets took off from the Indian Air Force base in Bareilly this morning and completed three sorties of the area. Two MI-17 helicopters were also deployed for the search operations.

Though some Arunachal Pradesh Government officials have said that the chopper has made an emergency landing in Bhutan, the Bhutanese Government has said that no such emergency landing has been made.

External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna has reportedly spoken to his Bhutanese counterpart Lyonpo Ugyen Tshering and requested him to provide assistance in the search and rescue effort.

The search operation were being conducted under the supervision of the commander of the Army 4 Corp. About 30 army columns, besides paramilitaries were conducting the search operations on the Indian side.

Bhutanese forces had moved to the east of their country to meet up with their Indian counterparts and join in the search operation.

Over one thousand villagers living along the Arunachal Pradesh-Bhutan border had fanned out early on Sunday morning to search for the missing helicopter. (ANI)