Shivraj Patil copter force lands

The helicopter carrying Union home minister Shivaraj Patil, who is on an election tour of maharashtra, made a forced but safe landing at Gulbarga in Northern Karnataka on Monday as it was running out of fuel, state DGP S N Borkar said.

The "error" in information received by the pilot on the longitude and latitude of the area was another reason for the forced landing, borkar told PTI here.

The pilot landed the copter safely at the police grounds in Gulbarga.

Patil was scheduled to address election rallies in Lathur and nearby areas on Monday, the last day for campaigning for the Maharastra Assembly elections.