Bastar: Zero Point

For wife Subhalaxmi, the angst over her missing husband is compounded by the indifference of the authorities/agencies the family has approached, be it the governments of Chhattisgarh, MP and Andhra Pradesh, the IAF or the National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA). Singh's son Abhimanyu, a pilot with the IAF, has been on leave since the incident, running from pillar to post to find his father. "If this is how our country treats those who risk their lives for its sake," says Subhalaxmi, "then I will ask my son to quit the air force."

Singh, who had taken off from Hyderabad on August 3 at about 3 pm, had four other people with him—co-pilot Rajesh Gaur and engineers Santosh Kumar and Ashwini Singh. The chopper was to refuel at Jagdalpur—the headquarters of Bastar district. However, it never reached its destination. The last radio contact was about half-an-hour after take-off.

At that point, the chopper was flying at a low altitude (3,000 ft) and had deviated from the designated flight path. This, it's being suggested, is what might have led to the chopper's disappearance. But the family dismisses this outright, saying he must have digressed from the original flight path because of poor weather. "He is an experienced pilot," says Singh's daughter Aditi. "Do you think he'd violate rules?"

When the news broke, the Chhattisgarh government conducted a search, but soon gave up the effort. It informed the National Human Rights Commission, which the family had approached, that 12,000 jawans and 100 hours of flying time had been devoted to the search. The Singhs, however, maintain that the search was "perfunctory" and "not even 1,200 jawans were put on the job".

The NRSA, whose help too the family had enlisted, provided nine coordinates as possible search sites. These included the Bailadilla hills in Kirandul and Faraspal hills in Dantewada—both 4,000 ft high. However, the indicated area was not searched, with the Chhattisgarh government saying it was inaccessible.

After the IAF too drew a blank, the Singhs have approached the Israel-based Magnus International Search and Rescue Company, reputed to have produced "cent per cent results" in search operations. But their fee: Rs 3 crore. "If no one helps, we'll go door to door seeking contributions," says Aditi. "But we will not give up."

The family firmly believes he's alive. "Maybe he lost his way or perhaps he's been kidnapped by Naxalites," says his wife. For, the area in which the chopper went missing is a hilly, deeply forested, Naxalite-dominated terrain. "We can send a spaceship to the moon," says Aditi, "but we can't find a helicopter and four men in our own country. Isn't it ironical? Isn't it shameful?"