Rajnath’s helicopter did not land, hovered near former Maoist stronghold

The incident happened on Wednesday afternoon in West Singhbhum district.

Rajnath Singh

A helicopter in which Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh seemed to have lost its coordinates close to a former Maoist stronghold on Wednesday afternoon, leading to the cancellation of a campaign rally Singh was to address.

The incident happened on Wednesday afternoon in West Singhbhum district. Minister Singh was to address a rally at Badajamda within Jagannathpur constituency, close to the Saranda forest. However, the helicopter circled the venue for about 15 minutes and flew away without landing. Singh later reached his meeting at Majhgaon constituency as scheduled.

Chaibasa Deputy Commissioner Aboobacker Siddique said that he has asked the Sub-Divisional Magistrate of Jagannathpur, who gave permission for the event, to explain why the helicopter did not land. “I have called for a report after being informed of what happened. The pilot could have opted not to land for a number of reasons,” said the DC. An official who did not want to be quoted said the initial suspicion was that the coordinates supplied to the pilot was wrong.

Saranda is a former Maoist stronghold, having been the Eastern Regional Bureau’s headquarters of the CPI-Maoist till 2011. The Maoists were driven out in August 2011 by a major operation by security forces.

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