Chopper agency hired for CM to be show-caused: Minister

Transport minister Snehashish Chakraborty does not suspect any conspiracy behind the insurance lapse of the helicopter that was scheduled to fly Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to her Bongaon rally venue in North 24-Parganas this afternoon. “We will penalise the company. We have decided to issue a show-cause notice to the helicopter agency,” the minister said.

The Chief Minister had to travel to the venue by car as the Mumbai-based company declared, barely hours ahead of the journey that the insurance coverage of the helicopter had lapsed on the day. The chopper, incidentally, had conducted a trial run to ensure technical fitness yesterday.

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The insurance company’s sudden declaration triggered extensive political debate, and a section of the ruling Trinamul Congress expressed suspicion that the insurance failure was an outcome of a ‘deliberate’ act, conspiring to cause inconvenience to the Chief Minister.

This evening, while attending a political rally at Palla in East Burdwan, minister Chakraborty ruled out any possibility of a planned conspiracy behind the lapse. “The chopper is insured with a London-based company and the renewed policy papers of the hired copter arrived today after 1.30 p.m, when the Chief Minister had already left for her scheduled programme,” he said. “I don’t think it’s a result of any conspiracy,” he added.