A chopper which hovered over the Chetwode drill square of Indian Military Academy (IMA) during the address of the Reviewing Officer (RO), Deputy Chief of Army lieutenant General NPS Hira raised concern over the security of the one of the most prestigious events of Indian Army, the Passing-Out Parade (POP). The Commandant of the IMA, lt Gen SK Saini later confirmed that the chopper didn’t belong to Army.
The chopper flew above the drill square at 10.24 am when the RO of POP, lt Gen Hira was addressing the parade. The chopper took a half circle of the IMA and flew away. This flight created a flutter among the junior Army officers present there. It is learnt that the helicopter of the Army which showered petals on the passing out contingent few minutes later had to a take a lower path of flight in view of the identified chopper which had intruded into the space of the academy. When asked the IMA commandant, lt Gen Saini said that the chopper was not Army’s. He said that the security arrangements are made on the basis of the threat perception and all these arrangements are made on ground and not air. The IMA commandant however added that the incident would be investigated. The academy officials were of the view that the said chopper belongs to state government. The district Magistrate of Dehradun Ravi Nath Raman also said that the incident would be looked upon.
The mysterious flight nevertheless raised the issue of security of the IMA which is one of the most prestigious training academy of the country and is always on top in terms of threat perception.
“The incident is very serious as it happened when the POP was going on. The administration stops vehicular traffic on adjoining Chakrata road during the POP but it appears no thought was spent on ensuring security from air,’’ said one of a retired armed forces personnel present on the occasion.