Puri Police releases third helicopter of IMFA after court directive

Bhubaneswar: Following the directive of the Puri Sub Divisional Judicial Magistrate (SDJM) court, the police today released a helicopter sealed at the Indian Metals & Ferro Alloys Limited's (IMFA) hangar at the Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar.

Earlier, the Puri police had sealed three helicopters of IMFA after allegations that Jay Panda flew over Chilika Lake. However, after the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) gave a clean chit to Panda, the Puri Police released two helicopters of the company parked inside its hangar. The police, using the alibi of further probe, kept one more chopper sealed inside the hangar.

In the meantime, IMFA authorities appealed against the decision before the SDJM court. As the court gave its verdict in favour of IMFA, police today released the third chopper.

“The DGCA had last month given clean chit to IMFA. Following this, the police had unsealed the hangar but sealed the concerned helicopter. When we approached the court, it ordered for release of the third helicopter. We had also complied with the directives issued by the court,” said Himanshu Mohapatra, Head of IMFA Aviation.