The alert pilot of the IAF copter that was flying to Temelwara, in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district, to evacuate jawans injured in a Naxal ambush in the area on Friday had acted in time to dodge the “rebel trap” by aborting the landing at the “Maoist helipad” at Temelwara, close to the encounter site, averting a certain tragedy, the police sources said here on Saturday.
Describing the attack on the rescue copter by Maoists as “pre-planned”, a police officer said the Naxals appeared well versed with air traffic control system pertaining to landing and taking off the copters. Hence, the rebels after ambushing a road opening party of Chhattisgarh Armed Force (CAF) jawans at Pushwara close to Temelwara, had waited for the copter to rescue the injured security personnel with a well thought out plan to trap it.
“The Naxals had laid a trap by lighting fire at a place close to official helipad at Temelwara to misguide the pilot to land at their designated place. The pilot of the IAF copter, who had almost landed the chopper at the ‘Naxal helipad’, immediately withdrew his copter from the area when he sensed the rebel trap,” CAF platoon commander Nand Kumar Bhadoria, who was leading the road opening party at Pushwara, told this newspaper here.
Mr Bhadoria was injured in the Naxal gunfire.
He has now been admitted in a hospital in Raipur. He was now said to be out of danger.
“It seemed the pilot got confused after witnessing two columns of smokes in one area and almost walked into the Naxal trap by guiding his copter to land at the ‘Naxal helipad’. He could realise the mistake when he noticed ultras, instead of uniformed security personnel, were heading towards the landing site and immediately took off his copter from the place. He had to force-land the helicopter in the nearby Chintalnar forest after Naxals sprayed bullets all over it from close range,” Mr Bhadoria disclosed.
Police sources said the copter was hit by bullets at many places. Nearly two dozen bullets have hit the copter.