Chopper lands in Sathankulam sans permission; triggers controversy

MADURAI: The landing of a helicopter at a remote area in Ambalaseri, a village in Sathankulam of Thoothukudi district, raised suspicions among some local villagers, who swarmed the area. Some portion of the area had bitumen road and it seemed that a construction project is set to take off, sources said.

A team led by Sathankulam Deputy Superintendent of Police Arul inspected the area where the chopper landed, sources said on Saturday. The Sathankulam DSP after enquiring said the chopper landed without obtaining prior permission from authorities concerned.

Two persons including CEO of a private firm alighted from the chopper that landed at around 9.15 am, on a temporary helipad, on December 14. They were said to have performed bhoomi pooja for construction and later the chopper took off at around 4.30 pm, on the same day, the DSP said.

The Kattarimangalam Village Administrative Officer Velmurugan lodged a complaint with the Sathankulam police citing that the chopper landed on a patta land without permission from the District Collector.