1) Following is the text of an article about the mysterious death of Bharat Borge in the Indian Express dated 28th April 2009;
In a mysterious turn in the case of alleged sabotage of industrialist Anil Ambani’s helicopter, the man who spotted pebbles in its fuel tank was found dead on the railway track near Vile Parle. “Bharat Borge’s body was found by police. A letter was found on this person,” Government Railway Police Commissioner A K Sharma told PTI. He, however, refused to divulge the contents of the letter.
Borge was among the first persons to have spotted the fuel cap of Ambani’s helicopter open on Thursday last and on inspection found pebbles and gravel inside. There were no comments from Anil Ambani Group which had alleged that business rivals may be behind an “attempt to murder” the industrialist by trying to sabotage his helicopter.
Confirming the death of Borge, his employer Airworks India, the company, which had the contract for the maintenance of Ambani’s helicopter, said in a statement that his demise was “unfortunate and tragic”.
2) Following is the text of an article about the mysterious death of Bharat Borge in the Outlook dated 20Th July 2009.
DGCA Analyzing Ambani’s Helicopter Case
Officials of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) are helping the Mumbai police in analyzing the technical aspects of the sabotage of Anil Ambani’s helicopter, official sources said today. Senior DGCA officials have been on the job in Mumbai for the past two days, the sources said.
They said the police sought the opinion of DGCA experts to establish whether the chopper would have crashed if it had taken off with pebbles inside its gear box. At least seven pebbles and stones have been sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory for analysis and tests. Based on the opinion of these experts, the police could book the culprits on charges of attempt to murder, the sources said.
A complaint was lodged last Thursday that pebbles and mud were found in the fuel tank of the 13-seater Bell 412 helicopter of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG), which was parked at the Mumbai airport.
The experts feel that this could have been dangerous as the stones and mud could have entered the gearbox and clogged the fuel passage that could have led to a crash. Anil Ambani and nine top ADAG officials were supposed to fly in the helicopter on that day.
3) Following is the text of an article about the mysterious death of Bharat Borge in the ECONMIC TIMES Dated 25th April 2009.
The Reliance-Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (R-ADAG) has shot off a letter to the Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan, claiming that
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It was noticed that the filler cap fitted on the combining gear box at the top of the helicopter did not appear to be fitted in a correct position,” states the letter written by Captain RN Joshi, senior pilot, Reliance Transport & Travels, an R-ADAG company.
The filler cap, which is about ten feet from the ground, was then opened by Bharat Borge, a senior technician. “There were pebbles and gravel in the filler neck,” states the letter, copies of which have been marked to key state officials like the home minister, chief secretary, Mumbai’s police commissioner and joint commissioner.
The letter further explains that this would not have been detected in a routine check, and was discovered by merely by chance. The helicopter was scheduled to fly Mr Ambani and other senior Reliance Communication officials from Santa Cruz to the Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City in Navi Mumbai.
Claiming that pebbles and gravel were put in a planned manner, it says, “Some persons, possible business rivals, were attempting to take away the life of Mr Ambani. This is clearly an attempt to murder.” When contacted, R-ADAG spokesperson declined to comment. The Bell 412 helicopter has two engines. “Even if one engine breaks down, the helicopter can land with the help of the other engine,” states the letter.
It claims that the gravel and pebbles were put with the help of someone who has knowledge of helicopters. “The helicopter could have taken off but the gravel and pebbles would have soon entered the gear box which could have caused mid-air loss of power. This would have resulted in a forced landing resulting in loss of lives of its inmates,” the letter added.
