NEW DELHI, July 26 (Xinhua) -- As search operation to trace the Indian military aircraft Tuesday enters fifth straight day, India's Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar said they have pressed in all resources to locate the missing AN-32.
The Indian Air Force aircraft took off from southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu on Friday morning but went missing about 300 km east of capital city Chennai, over Bay of Bengal.
"A lot of resources (satellite imagery, surveillance, etc) have been deployed to find the missing aircraft and we are also trying our best to find out leads," Parrikar told media. "Till now all the leads were of no use, but we are trying to concentrate on some areas and trying to find out further."
According to Defense officials AN-32 with 29 officials on board was on its destination to Port Blair city, the capital of archipelago of Andaman and Nicobar, when it lost communication and vanished mysteriously.
Parrikar also briefed Indian parliament over the issue and said they have pressed in maritime patrol aircrafts with advanced electro-optics and radars, beside fleet of ships and submarine in the area to carry out searches.
