Hindustan Times ST (Jaipur)

Karnataka CM’s chopper makes emergency landing at Bengaluru

- Press Trust of India letters@hindustant­imes.com

A helicopter carrying Karnataka chief minister Siddaramai­ah suffered a bird hit and made an emergency landing at the HAL Airport in Bengaluru on Monday shortly after take-off, a police official said.

Siddaramai­ah and four others, including home minister G Parameshwa­ra who were also on board, were safe, assistant commission­er of police P Nagesha Kumar told on Monday. The chopper did not suffer any damage in the bird hit, he said.

He said the chief minister and others left for Shravanabe­logala in Hassan district as scheduled by the same helicopter a few minutes later after clearance, adding, they landed at the destinatio­n.

Siddaramai­ah was on an official visit to Shravanabe­logala to launch developmen­t schemes for “Mahamastha­kabhisheka”. A Delhi-Kolkata Air India flight carrying more than 250 passengers was hit by a bird seconds before it was to land in the West Bengal capital on Monday morning.

Airport officials told HT the landing was made safely and the hit was detected only when engineers were conducting mandatory checks before the aircraft was supposed to take off for Delhi. An Air India spokespers­on said the bird hit happened just before the flight landed at 9:20 am, but it was never noticed then.

“After the hit was detected, the passengers who boarded the aircraft were deplaned. Therefore,

It is an once in a 12-year event at the Jain pilgrimage centre scheduled for February next year. Mahamastha­kabhisheka is the anointment of the 57-foot there is no question of passenger safety being jeopardise­d,” an airport official told HT. The next flight that was supposed to take off at 10:15am has been delayed. “We are looking after the passengers and trying to make another aircraft available for them,” said an AI spokespers­on.

Bird strikes that often hold up fliers and even cause close shaves, nearly doubled between 2010 and 2015 , data from the Directorat­e General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), India’s aviation safety regulator, said. A bird strike is defined as the collision between a bird and an aircraft. HTC

high monolithic statue of Jain deity Lord Gommateshw­ara, also known as Bahubali, located on Vindyagiri at Shravanabe­logala.

The Central Bureau of Investigat­ion (CBI) has booked one of its deputy superinten­dent of police (DSP) posted in the agency’s Mumbai branch on charges of criminal conspiracy and corruption.

The DSP, Neeraj Agarwal, along with another individual, was booked by CBI after Pradip Shah, the retired head cashier of Bank of Baroda’s Mumbai branch, filed a complaint alleging that the agency official demanded a bribe of ₹50 lakh from him. Not only did the CBI official called him at agency offices, but also sent multiple notices to the family of the complainan­t, including his wife, according to the FIR.

The other individual booked by the agency for allegedly conniving with Agarwal, has been identified simply as Tiwari, who according to the complainan­t was introduced to him as an income tax officer.

The retired head cashier alleged that the DSP, along with the other individual, had demanded money in return for settling an income tax case that could be made out against the complainan­t.

The complainan­t has told CBI that the amount of bribe demanded by the two was brought down to ₹35 lakh by them after he told the duo that he couldn’t possible arrange the amount demanded from him.

Probe documents with HT state that the complaint by Shah was filed on April 22 following which CBI laid a trap and recorded conversati­on between Shah and Tiwari where the latter is demanding ₹4 lakh as the first instalment of the total ₹35 lakh.

All through April, Shah and his family was repeatedly summoned by the duo who finally set May 8 as the final day for payment. Agarwal had allegedly even told Shah that he would have to submit his so called report on him by April 28.

Shah finally approached the CBI which swung into action and has now booked the two accused and unknown others.

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