The Indian Defence Ministry has clarified that the news of a dummy helicopter worth $54,000 installed at Lucknow being stolen is fake. They stated that the DRDO has never installed any helicopter model in Lucknow at any time.
On Saturday (May 18), the Indian Defence Ministry stated that claims in the Indian media suggesting that a dummy model of the Chinook helicopter built by the Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) had been taken were completely ‘misleading’.
According to earlier reports, the model vanished after being built to showcase it at the 2020 Defence Expo.
The Indian Ministry of Defence has emphasized that the press sources saying otherwise are fake and that the DRDO did not install any such replica at the defense exhibition.
“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,” the defense ministry said in a statement on X.
The state capital of Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow, is said to have hosted the show. According to news sources, the replica gained popularity throughout the show as visitors gathered to snap pictures of the life-sized building. The replica was left there after the show ended, and reports state that the local municipal body was responsible for looking after it.
According to media sources, the replica inexplicably disappeared last year, and it’s still unclear who took it and when. It was previously stated that the municipal corporation opted to dispose of the helicopter due to worries over its structural integrity. Subsequently, the Lucknow Municipal Corporation noted that the replica was transported to their “Rubbish and Removable” facility in Gomti Nagar for repairs.
GreatGameIndia recently reported about another piece of fake news. Two US defense officials have confirmed that the claim of Russia testing a hypersonic missile off the California coast is false and merely propaganda.