| |
Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh helicopter went missing in the middle of bad weather in a densely forested region since Wednesday morning.
According to sources, five Indian Air Force and one private helicopter have joined the hunt for the missing chopper that carried Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy.
Finance Minister K. Rosiah and Chief Secretary Ramakanth Reddy has requested people in the Nallamalla forest area that covers Kurnool and adjoining districts to inform the police if they learnt anything about the helicopter.
Ramakanth Reddy said, “YSR's fate caused tremors in New Delhi, where the office of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi were in touch with the state government”.
The state government has also alerted both the home and defence ministries in New Delhi.
The chief secretary informed that two air force helicopters from Secunderabad and three from Bangalore were looking for the Chief Minister's helicopter along with a private chopper from Andhra Pradesh. Andhra Pradesh has also requested New Delhi to send an unmanned aircraft to the area.
The state government lost touch with the Chief Minister at around 9.45 a.m. "So far we have not been able to get any confirmation (about the chief minister). It is possible that because of the strong winds and heavy rains, it may have landed in some unfamiliar area," Reddy said. "If you land in an unfamiliar forested area, getting out will be very difficult”, he added.
Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy fled from Hyderabad to attend a function in Chittoor on Wednesday morning. The helicopter went off the radar amid inclement weather, causing panic in Hyderabad.
Social Welfare Minister P. Subhash Chandra Bose has claimed that the Chief Minister was safe after the helicopter landed in Kurnool district, but the police both in Hyderabad and Kurnool have refused to back the Minister's claim.
"We have information that the chief minister is safe," said P. Subhash Chandra Bose.
Congress MP from Nandyal S.P.Y. Reddy, however, told a television channel that he was yet to receive any information about YSR's whereabouts from the police.
A high-level meeting was held at the state secretariat in Hyderabad which was attended by Home Minister P. Sabita Indra Reddy, Chief Secretary Ramakant Reddy, Director General of Police S.S.P. Yadav, the chief minister's close aide and Rajya Sabha MP K.V.P. Ramchandra Rao and senior state ministers.
