By IANS
Ranchi : Jharkhand’s chief minister and the governor will have to take the roads to travel in the state, as the lone chopper, which the government had hired on contract from a private firm has been withdrawn on charges of misuse.
The five-seater aircraft was hired by the Jharkhand government from Asian Aviation to ferry VIPs like Chief Minister Madhu Koda and Governor Syed Sibte Razi. The company was charging Rs.75,000 per hour.
A Brazilian pilot assigned to fly the aircraft was reportedly unhappy over the misuse of the chopper. It was reportedly used for surveillance purposes in anti-Maoist operations.
“The pilot had protested the misuse of the chopper. The pilot was against using it for anti-Maoist operations. Despite his protest, it was used in these operations,” an official of the state civil aviation department told IANS.
He said “the pilot has left the state with the chopper”.
Last year, the government purchased a Dhruv helicopter from Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd at a cost of Rs.320 million, but the chopper stays on the ground because there is no one to fly it.
So far, the government has paid $400 million as rent to different companies for hiring choppers.