Chopper carrying Congress leader Kamal Nath loses way, lands safely after 40 minutes

BHOPAL: A helicopter carrying senior Congress leader Kamal Nath from Chhindwara to Jhoteshwar in Narsinghpur district in Madhya Pradesh lost its way this morning, delaying its landing at the destination by 40 minutes, an official said.

The chopper was scheduled to land at Jhoteshwar at 10.30 am.

But the pilot wrongly landed it in a field at Kodsa village near Kareli tehsil after losing the flight path.

It finally reached the destination at 11.10 am.

Nath, accompanied by former Union minister Suresh Pachouri, was heading to Jhoteshwar to seek the blessings of Shankaracharya Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati.

"Former Union minister Kamal Nath was scheduled to reach Jhoteshwar by a chopper at 10.30 am. But the pilot lost direction causing a delay in landing. It finally reached the venue around 11.10 am," Narsinghpur Superintendent of Police (SP) Monika Shukla told PTI over phone.

According to eyewitnesses, Nath's helicopter landed in a field at Kodsa village in Narsinghpur district.

Later, he realised that he had landed at a wrong place and immediately took off for Jhoteshwar in Gotegaon area.

Later, the two senior Congress leaders sought the blessings of Shankaracharya Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati and also offered prayers at the famous Tripur Sundari temple.

Three days ago, the Chhindwara MP had come to Jhoteshwar to attend the concluding ceremony of former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh's 'Narmada Parikarma' yatra.