Indian authorities launched a search operation after a helicopter carrying the chief minister of a north-east state went missing in bad weather, officials said Sunday.
Dorjee Khandu, chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh and member of the ruling Congress party, was en route from Tawang near the Chinese border to state capital Itanagar on Saturday morning when his helicopter lost contact with air-traffic control, dpa reported.
"The chief minister is still untraceable. A huge search operation is underway to locate the missing helicopter," Khandu aide Jambey Tsering said in Itanagar.
More than 2,500 Indian troops as well as police had fanned out in different directions since Saturday evening to track the helicopter operated by state-run Pawan Hans, defence officials said.
Search teams launched operations across districts in neighbouring Bhutan, while around 1,000 villagers in the border region were also involved the ground search, local news reports said.
An Indian Air Force helicopter and a Sukhoi jet were making sorties in the remote region, the NDTV network reported.
But inclement weather was hampering the aerial search. "Efforts are going on despite deteriorating weather conditions," Tsering said.
Khandu, 56, has been chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh since April 2007.
There have been two helicopter crashes in India's hilly, forested north-eastern region in recent days.
On April 19, a Pawan Hans helicopter crashed in Arunachal Pradesh killing all 17 people on board. Three days later, four army personnel died after a military helicopter crashed in the neighbouring state of Sikkim.