A week after Nitin Gadkari escaped a chopper accident, Bengal BJP files FIR

KOLKATA: One week after the Union minister for road transport Nitin Gadkari escaped a chopper accident in West Bengal's Haldia, Bengal BJP on Thursday lodged an FIR with the East Midnapore police superintendent and demanded punishment of those who were responsible for the incident.

BJP's East Midnapore general secretary Sukumar Das has written a letter to the East Midnapore district police chief under whose jurisdiction the port town of Halida falls and demanded punishment of those who were responsible for the incident. Gadkari visited Haldia on June 24 and the helicopter provided to him by the West Bengal government had landed at the helipad of the Haldia Dock Complex (HDC).

The red carpet laid out for him at the helipad was blown into the air and got entangled in the rotor blades of the chopper while it was landing at the HDC helipad. Gadkari escaped miraculously, but he could not return Kolkata by using the same chopper.

In his letter to the district police chief, Das has stated that " Shri Gadkari is a Z + class VIP and there should be no compromise with his safety. It is better known to you that any sort of material which may dislodge from ground due to sudden wind closer to the helipad is not only dangerous, but also in violation of safety rules. I am informing this to you with a request to treat this as FIR and for punishment to the those responsible for the incident."