Hopes recede but govt says no conclusion on Khandu’s fate

Itanagar/New Delhi: Hopes of Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu being alive were receding fast today, three days after his helicopter went missing and suspectedly crashed, but the government said it had reached no conclusion as the search was continuing.
Some metallic objects have been sighted at a place in Bhutan, several kilometers from Sela Pass where the helicopter lost contact, and search parties comprising 3,000 personnel from the Army, Border Roads Organisation, ITBP, SSB and Arunachal Pradesh Police were trying to reach there.
Nearly 300 ITBP personnel today fanned out on foot heading towards a place five km inside Bhutan and for Nagajiji near the windy Sela Pass to track the missing helicopter.
The aerial search was called off for the day because of bad weather.
“According to inputs from the Arunachal government, local people have sighted something like an aircraft inside Bhutan.