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Sonia sends Moily, Prithviraj Chauhan to monitor Andhra CM search | Congress president Sonia Gandhi has asked Union Law Minister and general secretary in charge of Andhra Pradesh Veerappa Moily and Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office Prithviraj Chauhan to rush to Hyderabad to oversee the search and rescue operations for missing state Chief Minister Y.S. Rajshekhar Reddy. The Indian
Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has also joined in the search operation. Union
Home Minister P. Chidambaram has said that he has advised the Andhra Pradesh Government
to conduct a ground search for Reddy through the night. Aerial search has been
called off. The Indian Air Force has deployed Sukhoi 30 fighter jets to conduct
an air sweep of the area where the chief minister's chopper is said to have landed
due to inclement weather. The decision to send Moily and Chauhan comes as the
State Government sources said the CRPF, the Army and Special Forces would conduct
their search on foot through the night till the chief minister is traced. The
defence personnel would move along the same route that the chief minister took,
notwithstanding the inclement weather. The Andhra Pradesh Government has separately
set up 14 teams, each consisting of eight members (112 personnel), to search for
Reddy. Local villagers have also been provided with torches and other equipment
to help in the search of an area that is dominated by Naxals. The State Government
has also asked the Central Government to provide it with an unmanned aircraft
and all-weather Fokker aircraft for the search operation in the Nanamalla and
Seer Sailam forest ranges. Meanwhile, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation
(DGCA) has denied that the seven-seater Bell chopper was not air worthy. It said
that the outdated certificate that a private channel accessed appeared on the
DGCA web site. The DGCA says the copter is air worthy. The State Government has
also said that it will be giving a fresh update on the situation at 7 p.m. The
State Government said that bad weather, time constraints plus the dense forested
area where the chopper may have landed is hampering rescue operations. It appealed
to the general public to step in and help in the rescue operations along with
the Indian Air Force and the Army. The Congress party on Wednesday held an emergency
press briefing here on the issue. Party spokesman Manish Tewari told media persons
that it is an evolving situation that is being closely monitored by the Central
and State Governments, besides the Congress president Sonia Gandhi. The party
said that state government is handling a very sensitive situation as the copter
is said to have landed somewhere in the forests between the three districts of
Rayalseema, Prakasham and Chitoor. Tewari said that every effort was being made
to resolve the situation as quickly as possible given the limited time available.
He said that four Indian Air Force helicopters, one MI8 and a Dhruv chopper have
been pressed into the rescue operation. Earlier, Andhra Pradesh Finance Minister
K.Rosiah confirmed that the chopper carrying the Chief Minister had landed in
a forest area and efforts were on to locate it. Addressing a news conference in
Hyderabad, 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 that after 9.35 a.m., contact had been lost with the
chopper carrying the chief minister. 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 A.K. Antony are being kept posted about the latest developments.
He also issued an appeal to the public to contribute to the search effort. Rosiah's
briefing came as Andhra Pradesh Police continues their search for the missing
chopper. Panic was created around Wednesday noon as Reddy was reported untraceable
for nearly four hours. Reddy was on his way to Chitoor, by chopper which initial
reports said had made an emergency landing near Kurnool due to inclement weather.
The chopper took off at 8.45 a.m. for Chitoor and was scheduled to arrive here
at 10.45 a.m, sources said. The chopper was said to have landed in the middle
of a thick forest, said to be affected by Maoist activities. The Chief Minister's
Office (CMO) confirmed receiving a message of the emergency landing of the chopper,
but nothing thereafter. Till now, no one has confirmed the movements of Reddy.
The Union Home Ministry is monitoring the search operations, as Kurnool is a Naxal
affected area. Air Traffic Control (ATC) sources said the chopper went off the
radar due to heavy rains. The CMO maintains there is no need to worry as the area
has no mobile connectivity.
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