Search to find Arunachal CM's chopper zeroed in to 66 sq km

NEW DELHI: The search operations to locate the missing with Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu on board will now be confined to a 66-sq km area in West Kameng district where satellite images have shown metallic objects on the ground.

Official sources said acting on the images taken by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) satellite, which spoted several metallic objects spread over the 66-sq km area, several ground teams of searchers trying to reach the probable locations near Naga Jiji, which are heavily forested and in high altitude.

Border Road Organisation employees, based in Banga Ganga camp, have also claimed that they heard the sound of a big explosion from the nearby forest on Saturday morning, almost the same time when the chopper went missing.

A similar claim was also made by one Deepak Tamang, a Bomdila based driver who was travelling at that time.

Helicopter carrying Khandu, his security officer Yeshi Choddak,Yeshi Lhamu, sister of Tawang MLA Tsewang Dhondup and pilots Captain J S Babbar and Captain T S Mamik went missing 20 minutes after they took off from Tawang to Itanagar on Saturday morning.