Where's the CM??
The 60-year-old Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh took off in his helicopter for Chittoor at 8.35 am on Wednesday. Like always, YSR was travelling with his special secretary Subramaniam, chief security officer Wilson, and two pilots on the 7-seater Bell 430 helicopter.
The army, police forces from 6 districts, ISRO and anti-Naxal forces are all involved in search and rescue operations now.
The chopper is said to have landed in the middle of a thick forest, which is infested with Maoists.
The Chief Minister's Office (CMO) confirmed receiving an emergency-landing message from the chopper, but nothing thereafter.
Till now, no one has confirmed the movements of Reddy.
The Union Home Ministry is monitoring the search operations.
Air Traffic Control sources said the chopper went off the radar due to heavy rains.
Two helicopters from Hakimpet air command in Secunderabad returned because of inclement weather while three from Bangalore air command and one private helicopter from Nellore were involved in search operations mainly over the Nallamala forest ranges, a stronghold of the Naxalites, in the Rayalaseema region.
An unmanned aerial vehicle from the Defence Ministry has also been pressed into service.
The incident has sent security agencies and bureaucrats into a tizzy with top officials closeted at the secretariat in Hyderabad to monitor the situation.
State DGP S S P Yadav and Intelligence Chief Aravinda Rao and Chief Secretary Ramakanth Reddy are supervising the operations to trace the missing chopper.
Andhra Pradesh Finance Minister K Rosiah confirmed that the chief minister's helicopter landed in a forest area in Chitoor district, and efforts are on to locate it.
Addressing a news conference, Rosiah said: "All state and central forces are on alert. At the moment, we are still tracing the location of the missing chopper, which has landed in the forests in the Chitoor-Nellore area. We are finding a way to reach the place."
Rosiah said the state government has alerted the Union Home Ministry about the missing chopper. He said search choppers, including two Indian Air Force Chetak helicopters have been roped in for the search operations.
Rosaiah appealed to the people in Chitoor, Mehbubnagar, Prakasam and Kurnool districts to provide any information they have on the missing helicopter. Police and forest departments in the area were coordinating the operation.
Rosiah said that the Prime Minister's Office as well as the offices of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Home Minister P Chidambaram and Defence Minister AK Antony are being kept posted about the latest developments.
Rosiah's briefing came as Andhra Pradesh Police continues their search for the missing chopper of the chief minister.
He said the Prime Minister's Office, Union Home Ministry and Defence Ministry have been alerted while the office of Congress President Sonia Gandhi was in touch with the state government.
The Home and Civil Aviation ministries in Delhi have also said that no contact has been established with the missing helicopter.
Chief Minister's Principal Secretary S Subramanyam and Chief Security Officer A S C Wesley and two pilots were also on board the twin-engined government helicopter.
While he expressed hope that the chief minister could be safe, state Chief Secretary P Ramakanth Reddy said it could be possible that the helicopter could have landed in an unfamiliar area from where getting out could be difficult.
"So far we have not been able to make any contact. It is possible because of strong winds and inclement weather, it may have landed in an unfamiliar area from where getting out can be difficult. Time we have before sunset is limited and it is raining heavily," he said.
Home Minister P Chidambaram was personally monitoring the situation. Civil Aviation Secretary M Madhavan Nambiar said in Delhi that there was no information about the whereabouts of the helicopter. The Home Ministry was coordinating search operations, he said
Meanwhile, Congress President Sonia Gandhi has expressed concern over the incident and is monitoring the developments.
Party spokesman Manish Tiwari informed media persons about the same. Describing the situation in Andhra Pradesh as a 'crisis', he said Gandhi and her office were monitoring the developments. The Congress President hopes and prays that Reddy is safe and would return to work soon, he said.
(Courtesy - rediff.com, ndtv.com)