Coast Guard goes to police and files complaint on missing Dornier aircraft

Chennai: After 10 days of a futile search, the Coast Guard finally filed a police complaint regarding its Dornier flight, which went missing on June 8. According to police sources, officials of the Coast Guard went to the airport police station, in whose jurisdiction the flight took off for a routine sortie, and submitted a complaint on Wednesday. According to informed sources, when the CG approached police officials for the registration of FIR, the police authorities were left wondering under which section the case should be filed. Subsequently, it was decided to consult with the public prosecutor for a legal opinion, pending which the FIR won’t be filed.

A Community Service Register (CSR) was however issued. The source added, “The registration of a police complaint is a first step before measures can be initiated for clearing any insurance or gratuity claims.”When contacted, a Coast Guard official said the police complaint was a necessary legal formality. “It is normal process as the police officials needed to be informed about the missing aircraft and the personnel onboard,” the official said.

Flight CG- 791, with three officers on board, Deputy Commandants Vidyasagar, Subhash Suresh and M K Soni, had taken off from the Meenambakkam old airport on the evening of June 8. Expected to return around 10.30 pm, the aircraft, which was last tracked off the coast of Chidambaram by Trichy ATC, disappeared. A massive search and rescue operation, involving several ships and naval submarines, was immediately undertaken. However it has still not yielded any result.