A government publicity official in Shandong province confirmed a widely circulated micro blog that a helicopter was hijacked by unidentified people on Tuesday afternoon in the eastern province.

The helicopter, which was to spray pesticides, was hijacked by about 20 men at about 4 pm on Tuesday at Dezhou city, Xiajin county, according to an online post uploaded by a web user on weibo.

The pilot was forced to take off from the airport and both pilot and helicopter are missing, the post said.

Xu Aiqing, a publicity official in Xiajin county, confirmed the post and told China Daily that police have started investigation.

He confirmed a report by sky.news.sina.com saying the incident may be due to a dispute involving aviation companies.

Hubei Yinyan General Aviation, which owns the helicopter, a Bell 206 worth 15 million yuan ($2.44 million), refused to comment when contacted by China Daily.