Small plane in Maoist hotbed raises a stink

Lily

B.R
Staff member
Patna: An alert has been sounded in Bihar after a lightweight aircraft mysteriously landed near a petrol pump in a far-off, Maoist-hit village on Monday and then flew off after refuelling, alarming the security agencies.

Authorities said the bright red two-seater aircraft landed near a petrol pump at around 9am at Pakhnari village in south-western Bihar's Rohtas district situated amid Kaimur hill ranges to purchase fuel.

According to reports, one of the two persons inside the aircraft alighted to buy fuel worth Rs300 (Dh24) and then took off before the police who were informed of the incident could reach the spot.

Although the pilot and the co-pilot did not reveal their identity to the fuelling station staff or the curious crowd of villagers who had gathered in large numbers to catch a closer glimpse of the aircraft, they told them that they had been forced to land en route to Gaya, another south Bihar town some 200km from the area by road, after they ran low on fuel.

Security agencies are now investigating if the two-person crew had any link with Maoists or any other extremist groups given the fact that the Kaimur hill ranges are considered the headquarters of the Maoists' Sone-Ganga-Vindhayachal zone, where the rebels have a strong presence.

What has left security agencies puzzled, however, is how an aircraft could run on common fuel and cover such a long distance on less than six litres of petrol. There are apprehensions that the incident was an attempt by the Maoists to test the aerial security blanket in Bihar before a possible aerial attack. There is also concern about how an aircraft could be procured, if at all.

Significance

The development assumes significance in the light of a recent official missive of the Home Ministry and intelligence agencies warning the state government about the possibility of Maoist strikes on important installations in the region, such as Sone Bridge, Indrapuri barrage, the power grid, dams, jails and historical monuments.

The Maoists have been described as the biggest internal security threat by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh himself.

A senior local police official, Sushil Khopde, said he had ordered an inquiry into the incident adding that the necessary action would be taken after the probe was complete.

 
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