Pawan Hans, the state government helicopter used by the police. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

Patna, March 13: The Bihar police have decided to purchase a helicopter for the anti-Naxalite operations.

At present, the state police don’t have any permanent chopper and they have to depend on the state government’s Pawan Hans to carry out aerial operations, if any.

Director-general of police (DGP) Neel Mani said the state government has already approved the police headquarters’ proposal for purchasing a helicopter for special operations against the Naxalites. “Opinion of technical experts has been sought before finalising the deal for the chopper, which should at least be a 14-seater,” he said.

Sources in the state police headquarters said the chopper would cost between Rs 80 and 90 crore.

“The government has sanctioned the fund to the state police for purchasing the chopper,” a senior police officer posted at the state police headquarters said, adding that the concerned officers were in touch with the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited authorities.

Police in most Naxalite-affected states have opted for Dhruv. “But we don’t want to leave room for any controversy while purchasing the chopper. Some complaints have been received about the use of Dhruv in special operations against Naxalites in other states,” the officer said.

As the panchayat elections are round the corner, the state police have decided to hire on rent a 14-seater chopper. “The tender for hiring a chopper on rent has already been floated by the IG (operations),” Neel Mani told The Telegraph on Sunday.

He said March 31 is the last date to bid for the tender. The expenses of maintenance of the chopper would be borne by the funds released under the security-related expenses scheme.

Earlier, the authorities of Pawan Hans had assured the state police that they would give a chopper on rent. But the company failed to provide the chopper, compelling the top brass of the state police to go for open tender.

The state police had requisitioned for two MiG-17 IAF choppers last year for special operation against Maoists in Jamui, Lakhisarai and Munger districts. The move came in the wake of the Kajra forest encounter in Lakhisarai in August 2010 in which seven Bihar policemen were killed and four taken hostage by the rebels.

Four choppers from the BSF, one MiG-17 and Dhruv were used for air surveillance in Naxalite-affected areas during the 2010 Assembly elections.