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Andhra CM's missing chopper crash-landed: Home Secretary | Union Home Secretary G.K. Pillai
on Thursday said that the missing Bell chopper carrying Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister
Y.S. Rajshekhera Reddy and four others had crash-landed about 40 nautical miles
east of the Kurnool mountaineous area. Pillai said that as of now he could not
hazard a guess about whether there were any survivors or whether the chief minister
and the people accompanying him were injured or had moved to another location.
He confirmed that the chopper was in a very damaged state. The Home Ministry has
ordered para-commandos to immediately airdrop themselves at the location to determine
the exact physical status of Reddy and the four others. The para-commandos have
landed. The para-commandos have been told to report back immediately on the situation
on ground. "We have located the helicopter. It is on top of a hill at a distance
of 40 nautical miles east of Kurnool. We are trying to find out whether there
were any survivors. We are not sure whether the chopper crashed. Two Air Force
helicopters are orbiting there trying to find a place to land, but because the
chopper is on top of a hill, it's a jungle it has been very difficult to land,"
said an Army spokesperson adding that further details were awaited from the site.
The chopper is said to be located between Rudrakonta and Rollapenta near Kurnool
town. Commandos, police and paratroopers are moving towards the area Meanwhile,
the core committee of the Congress party is meeting in New Delhi to assess the
latest developments. The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, will convene a meeting
of the Union Cabinet after the Congress meeting to decide on the next steps in
the operation. Earlier reports said The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)
would conduct two fly-bys at 9.30 a.m. and 10.30 a.m. respectively with the help
of CARTOSAT One and Two as part of their intensified search operations for missing
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajashekhara Reddy on Thursday. State Government
sources said that they have narrowed down the search to a five-square kilometer
radius in the Nallamala Forest Range where they believe the seven-seat Bell helicopter
carrying the chief minister may have gone down on Wednesday between 9 a.m. and
9.30 a.m. Notwithstanding a heavy cloud cover, a three-pronged search operation
has been launched. Four helicopters have taken off for the search. At least 700
villagers, bow and arrow wielding Chenchu tribals who are familiar with the terrain
and former Naxals have reportedly joined in the search operations. The State Government
has refused to make any comment on the latest developments in view of the fact
that there are conflicting reports with regard to the copter's whereabouts. There
is a lot of cross-checking being done to come up with verifiable facts. Reddy''''s
chopper went missing while he was on his way from Kurnool to Chittoor. He was
accompanied by his Principal Secretary S Subramanyam and Chief Security Officer
A S C Wesley. There were two pilots also on board the twin-engined Bell 430 helicopter
that lost contact with Air Traffic Control at the Begumpet Airport in Hyderabad
when it was headed for Chittoor district, about 600 kilometres from Hyderabad.
ISRO chief G. Madhavan Nair and his team are monitoring a low flying remote sensing
plane. Satellite images are being used to try and trace the place. So far, 41
images have been taken but none of them have revealed any information about the
chief minister's whereabouts. As of now the Indian Government has said that it
has not requested the United States for help in the matter, but has confirmed
that the unmanned vehicle that is presently deployed in the north eastern part
of the country is being kept on standby. The Army, Indian Air Force (IAF), Central
Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel, Andhra Police Greyhound commandos along
with local police and district officials has entered the Nallamalla Forests to
launch the massive search and rescue operation for Reddy. About 250 Army personnel
with night vision devices have joined the search operations. "We have deployed
two columns and one Ghatak (jungle warfare specialist) platoon in the area for
searching the Chief Minister. Our troops are equipped with night vision devices
such as goggles and hand held thermal imagers," Army officials said. Congress
president Sonia Gandhi is expected to arrive in Hyderabad shortly to be with Reddy's
anguished family members and to get a hand on assessment of the search operation.
She has already sent Union Law Minister and Congress general secretary in charge
of Andhra Pradesh affairs Veerappa Moily and Union Minister of State in the Prime
Minister's Office Prithviraj Chauhan to the city to monitor developments. Chauhan
told press persons that the State and Central Governments are sparing no efforts
to search for the chief minister. Meanwhile, National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan
has said that while both the state and central governments are extremely concerned
and worried about the missing chief minister, all available resources are being
deployed for the search. He said Army and Air Force helicopters have been conducting
a search of the region. He also confirmed that two fixed-wing Sukhoi 30 aircraft
with synthetic aperture radar capabilities have been pressed into service. Forces
on the ground are also on the lookout for the missing helicopter and its individuals.
Narayanan said that the lack of communication is a major problem and also ruled
out the probability of a Naxal strike. "I don''''t think the Naxals have the capability
to bring down a helicopter," he said. "There is no question about calling off
the search till we discover what happened there. We are hopeful we will find the
Chief Minister, his chief secretary and PSO without serious injuries," he added.
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