Pune: The Latur district police on Sunday lodged a complaint against a journalist from a prominent vernacular daily for a report criticising the police response to the helicopter crash involving Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in Nilanga on May 25.
The news report by Latur-based journalist Govind Ingale on May 26 in the Marathi daily Lokmat , with a headline translating to ‘The police ran, but Irfan ran towards the Chief Minister’, did not go down well with the district police authorities.
In his report, Mr. Ingale criticised the police for their “slow and cowardly response to the helicopter crash”, saying that only Irfan Shaikh, a local resident, charged ahead to rescue the Chief Minister while the authorities allegedly fled the scene.
A case under Section 500 (defamation) of the Indian Penal Code has been lodged against Mr. Ingale at the Nilanga police station by the miffed police.
“The story was written with the intent of tarnishing the image of the police and deliberately breaching the trust between the people and police. At the time of the crash, some of the locals and authorities were trying to duck to avoid the impact of a possible explosion … hence, they moved away from the spot. However, all senior police authorities rushed to the spot to rescue those trapped inside the chopper, including the Chief Minister,” said inspector Hanmant Padile of the Nilanga police station.
Mr. Padile further said that Mr. Ingale’s report, by singling out one resident for praise and maligning the police, seemed slanderous and went against photographic and video evidence.
He added the district administration was in the process of rehabilitating the Kamble family, whose house was damaged in the helicopter crash.
All six persons aboard the helicopter, including the two pilots, escaped serious injury in the accident. On detecting a variable wind pattern after taking off, the pilot had to land back on the temporary helipad. However, while landing, the rotor blades of the helicopter became entangled in electric cables nearby, hitting a high tension power line before brushing a parked truck and damaging a house as well.
