In a stunning incident, the helicopter carrying Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, reportedly went missing for at least 45 minutes while it was on its way from Jeypore to Kotpad in Koraput district on Thursday.
According to information, the helicopter had taken off from the Jeypore helipad at 12.15 pm and was scheduled to reach at Kotpad at 12.55 pm. But it reached 45 minutes late, fuelling speculations of the flight losing contact with the ground staff.
The officials went into a tizzy and made frantic efforts to guide the flight to the predetermined path. They came to know that it deviated from the path due to wrong coordinates provided to the pilot from Koraput. A revised input made the job easier and helped the helicopter to land at Kotpad after over 45 minutes of delay.
Koraput Works Department Executive Engineer Biranchi Mohanty was suspended for furnishing wrong longitude and latitude details, informed Department Secretary Nalini Kanta Pradhan.
In yet another development, the incidence of removal of black stoles and shawls from women recurred at a meeting addressed by the Chief Minister at Jeypore on the day.
According to reports, police personnel asked all women and girls wearing black stoles and shawls to remove and put those dresses at a particular place before entry into the meeting venue. Consequently, it was seen that an array of black dresses was hanging from a clothes line at a little distant from the meeting place.