Lalu washes his hands off chopper controversy

New Delhi, Aug 9 (UNI) Railway Minister Lalu Prasad, embroiled in a controversy over his helicopter landing on a highway during a recent tour of Bihar's flood-affected areas, today said he did not order the pilot to do so.

''It was the pilot, a qualified one and drawn from the armed forces, who landed the chopper on the highway on his own. I did not issue any command to him,'' Mr Prasad told reporters here.

Mr Prasad was making an aerial survey of floods in Darbhanga on Thursday last when his chopper landed on NH-28A, the only patch of land not inundated by floodwater, so that he could meet villagers assembled there.

He said the local police was looking into the matter, ''but as far as I am concerned, I did not order the pilot to land the helicopter on the highway.'' The police case registered against Mr Prasad alleged that he forced the pilot to land the chopper on a highway and thus endangered security of the people.

The BJP has decided to raise the matter in the monsoon session of Parliament. Senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha had earlier told reporters that the copter landed on the busy Highway, causing great inconvenience to the people.

Mr Sinha said Mr Prasad was now denying involvement in the incident but from the taped conversation between the pilot and the ground station, ''it is clear that the RJD leader is now trying to mislead the people.'' The RJD President, who met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here on Saturday to apprise him of the flood situation in Bihar, later met reporters outside the Prime Minister's house and said: ''I will not comment on this. I will only talk about the flood situation in Bihar.'' UNI