Chinook Helicopter displayed at 2020 Defense Expo in Lucknow reportedly missing, MoD calls it misleading

A written complaint about the missing helicopter was made to Kalyan Banerjee, Joint Secretary of the Urban Development Department, as per the media reports.

Chinook Helicopter (File Photo)

New Delhi: A combat helicopter (Chinook) displayed at the Defense Expo held on February 10, 2020, at the Vrindavan Scheme in Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow, has reportedly disappeared.

As per the media reports, Lucknow Municipal Corporation officials responsible for this do not have an answer. During the 2020 Defense Expo, DRDO had displayed an exact model of the Chinook helicopter made from scrap near the entry gate. Visitors to the expo took selfies with this model of the helicopter.

During the G-20 summit program in February 2023, the municipal corporation removed the model, citing a weak helicopter pillar and VIP movement in the area. Since then, the helicopter has not been seen or reported.

A written complaint about the missing helicopter was made to Kalyan Banerjee, Joint Secretary of the Urban Development Department, in April 2023. Banerjee inquired with Lucknow Municipal Corporation officials about the helicopter’s whereabouts. At that time, Rajesh Jha, Zonal Sanitary Officer of Municipal Corporation Zone-8, gave a written reply stating that the helicopter had been sent for repair to the Rubbish and Removable (RR) workshop of the corporation located in Gomti Nagar.

However, current RR Chief Manoj Prabhat said that no such helicopter had arrived at the workshop nor had any record of it been entered in the past.

The Ministry of Defence also said in a statement, “News circulating about a DRDO installed Chinook Helicopter Model at Lucknow during DefExpo 2020 missing, is misleading.”

“Chinook is made by Boeing and DRDO has never installed any Helicopter Model at Lucknow anytime,” it added.

The Ministry further said, “DefExpo2020 was an incident free exhibition and no product or model went missing during its conduct.”

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