CoD begins probe into 'missing WW II aircraft'

Gulbarga, Sep 9 (UNI) An investigation team of Corps of Detectives has arrived in the city to probe the disappearance of a German ww II-vintage fighter aircraft which went missing in 2002.

The Messerschmitt BF109E Fighter aircraft in the custody of Hyderabad-Karnataka Educational Society (HKES) which runs an engineering college here, mysteriously went missing during November 2002. It was, however, reportedly, spotted in the French ruled channel island.

Local labour leader and former minister S K Kanta filed a petition in the Karnataka High Court seeking an investigation into the incident. Responding to Mr Kanta's petition, the court had asked the state government to constitute a special team to inquire.

The single seater fighter, used by German luft wafee men to conduct raids over England, is only the second of its kind in existence in the world. It was lying in the compound of the Engineering College until it 'disappeared'.

The aircraft was gifted to Hyderabad Nizam Mir Usman Ali Khan by the Royal Air Force in 1941 as a token of appreciation for deploying two of his battalions to fight for the British empire. The Nizam ruler kept it in the public garden the same year for public viewing.

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