Coonoor: The Nilgiris police have sent the phone used to record the visuals of the chopper minutes before the crash for forensic examination and have decided to probe why the people went into the dense forest which is prohibited due to animal movement on December 8.
On December 8, the IAF Mi-17V5 helicopter with 14 persons on board, including General Rawat and his wife, took off from Sulur airbase and crashed minutes before it was supposed to land at Coonoor. CDS Bipin Rawat, his wife, and 11 other defence personnel died in the accident. Group Captain Varun Singh lone survivor of the chopper crash is getting treatment in Bengaluru.
A 52-year-old man Joe Alias Kutty (55), a wedding photographer in Coimbatore, who along with his friend and family went to the forest for clicking pictures but instead reportedly recorded the purported last minutes of the chopper before its crash. Hence, the Nilgiris police intensified the probe and questioned Joe to get more details about the incident. They have also sent his phone for forensic test to a lab in Coimbatore.
A day after the accident (Dec 9) a case was registered under Section 174 Crpc by the Upper Coonoor police station. Subsequently, an investigating team headed by the additional SP of the Nilgiris Muthumanickam was formed to investigate the case.
Meanwhile, Central Government constituted team led by Air Marshall Manavendra Singh conducts its 4th-day investigation to ascertain the reason behind the crash.
The Nilgiris police have written to the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board authorities seeking details of whether any of the high transmission lines or high voltage poles were located close to the accident spot. They also have written a letter to the India Meteorological Department in Chennai seeking details regarding the weather condition at the chopper crash spot.
Special taskforce personnel have been deputed to conduct a combing operation in the forest areas close to the accident spot.
According to a press release, even witnesses around the mishap spot are being investigated from various angles.
Read : Men who shot video of Bipin Rawat's chopper before crash brief Coimbatore police commissioner
