It all started in 1944 when an American Liberator airplane collided with another Harvard de Havilland airplane without any reason. 4 crews died. The pre-Independence list continues when within 3 days, on 7^th May 1944, another Liberator crashed in 20 minutes of take-off from the nearby Digri Airfield. This time, 10 army people died.

May 1944 became the deadliest month in the history of the air force when another Harvard de Havilland airplane crashed immediately after taking off from Amrada airbase. Luckily, this time the crew got a lifeline. The year 1944 was the witness of yet another such crash in October when an American Liberator airplane crashed into the land while doing routine night patrol.

Now, you are thinking, why such deadliest things are mentioned and what is the reason also. Throughout the year, lots of airplane crash is reported all over the world, be it a civilian one or of the air force. But why such a ruckus is created now? And that too after 75 years of the first incidence? Well, the reason is, all these accidents happened in the same area, hardly 20 to 60 km apart in a radius of 100 km. Now thinking, what? Are you serious? Then, let me tell you Man, this is not the end. So many accidents happened after these also and that too in the same region.

Will you be surprised if I mention that this is in India and to be precise, in the eastern part of India? Probably Yes as these cases are unheard or rarely heard due as all the airplanes are from the air force. Luckily no passenger airplane faced such in this region. So, can we say this is India’s Bermuda Triangle? It is, and the region is eventually known as Bermuda Triangle. So, if anyone asks you from now on about Bermuda Triangle, you have all right to ask back, is it of Florida one or Odisha one?

Coming back to the list of accidents, July 1945 also witnessed two British Air Force Liberators bombing planes EW225 and EW247 collided at Amrada base camp at a very low altitude without any reason. Result? 14 air force personnel killed on the spot.

Now needs an introduction of these places, the triangle, and the mystery behind these unwanted accidents. Although it is rarely heard and seldom discussed as the area falls under the jurisdiction of the Indian Air Force. Every time investigation happened, and something must have been found. We are yet to know the actual reasons even years after. Anyway, let’s connect the three dots to make the triangle. Amrada Road airfield in Odisha, Chakulia in Jharkhand, and Piarboda in West Bengal are the three places that create this local Bermuda Triangle. This region is the witness of as many as 15 such accidents, if not more, and claimed more than 25 army people.

Out of these three airbases, Amrada is the biggest one and was developed during the second world war. It cost nearly 3 Crores in 1940 – can be understood how much it was developed now. Situated on huge 600 acres of land, this airbase was one of the busiest military airbases during the second world war. The 2.5 km stretch was the longest runway in Asia for several years. Around 60 km was the total length of the runway, taxiway, and apron. From that, it can be figured out how big this airbase was.

Numerous fighter planes were stationed then (like the Liberator, Harvard de Havilland as mentioned before) and it was named after the nearby rail station Amrada Road.

Situated in the Mayurbhanj district of Odisha, Amrada Road Airfield was the focal point due to two reasons – one is for its huge airbase with a good number of fighter plane base stations and the other due to unnatural accidents of several airplanes without any valid reason. In recent times, Amrada Road Airstrip has been rechristened as Rasgovindapur Airstrip, maybe to erase the ugly memories of the British era.

Most interesting thing was, in none of those cases the weather was bad or turbulent neither there was any mechanical fault found in any of the airplanes. Still, the accidents happened by surprising all. Not only in the pre-independence days, but the list of accidents also continued in the post-independence era too. A section of technical experts believes that the Uranium mines located near Jadugora in Jharkhand are the culprit in these accidents. As Amrada airbase is close to Jharkhand and Uranium is a radioactive element that jams all the electrical instruments nearby. It can happen that when the airplanes entered that area, radars stopped working and the planes lost control. As a result, most of them crashed. But there is no official statement in support of this theory. So, it remains a mystery.

Interesting to note, the places like Digri, Amrada base, Shalboni, Rairangpur are very close to each other, barely 90 km apart from each other and these are the major accident spots in most of the cases. Out of all airbases in this region that includes Jharsuguda, Charbatia, Dudhkundi, Salua, Hijli, and Kalaikunda except the famous three, Amrada was the biggest one as mentioned earlier. During the Burma operation and even in China Hump Operation, this was the main base, and hundreds of aircraft were managed from the Amrada base camp. Eventually, it became the graveyard of aircraft.

Post-Independence, the region witnessed multiple such accidents. Mostly was not mentioned in media as the planes belong to Indian Air Force and the area also belongs to them. It is believed that a fighter crashed in 1975 during the national emergency and for natural reasons, it didn’t come into the limelight. A Hawk fighter plane was destroyed after taking off from Kalaikunda airbase in 2015.

The latest one happened in the year 2018 March when an Indian Air Force Fighter plane crashed in the river Subarnarekha. The pilot survived somehow by God’s grace.

It is believed that as many as 24 such accidents happened in this region over the last 75 years and that has prompted people to mark this stretch as India’s Bermuda Triangle. By no way, it can be compared with the original Bermuda Triangle, but this is also not far away as far as the mystery is concerned.

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© Saikat Gupta

Image(s) Source: Internet