Chopper carrying Andhra Pradesh CM missing
Wed Sep 2, 2009 7:19pm IST
HYDERABAD (Reuters) - A helicopter carrying Y.S.R. Reddy, chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, went missing near a dense jungle while on a routine district tour early on Wednesday, officials said.
"The chief minister's chopper still remains untraced," K. Rosiah, the state finance minister said in Hyderabad.
"I am appealing to people to please help us in search operations," he said, hours after the air traffic control room lost contact with the helicopter in bad weather.
Air Force officials said five helicopters were scanning the state's Kurnool and Chittor districts for the missing chopper.
"So far, we have not found it," Wing Commander T.K. Singha, told Reuters in New Delhi.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->US offers help in locating Andhra CM
Meanwhile, the United States has offered all help in locating Y S R Reddy whose helicopter went missing in the state this morning.
US Ambassador Timothy J Roemer was in touch with Home Minister P Chidambaram [ Images ] through the day and offered all help in this development, the Embassy spokesman said. His heart goes out to all those involved in the development, the spokesman said.
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Would Naxalites capture YSR & extract the truth on EVM fraud
by Cool ChandraThakur
<b>
When Mumbai attack happenned, it took the govt 16 hrs to bring 24 Navy commandoes from navy ship close to Mumbai & 24 hrs to get 200 commandoes from Delhi to help.
But for YSR, they managed in 3 hours the following:
2 ISRO aircraft, 1 Sukhoi top-of-line surveillance aircraft, 5 govt choppers, 14 companies of seekers, 5000 CRPF men, 1 unmanned DRONE aircraft, 1 ISRO SATELLITE.
All in a matter of few hours.
</b>
WHY???
Coz I suspect he knows inNout of the EVM fraud with which Kangress captured great success in Andhra, Kerala, UP, Rajasthan, TN, Bengal, Uttarakhand, Haryana & Punjab.
If YSR were to fall in hands of Naxals, they will extract all the info about how exactly EVM fraud was done by Kangress in collusion with EC.
That would mean the END of Kangress in this country..
However, if these Naxals hold allegiance to China, it will be very bad, coz China will be able to blackmail Kangress govt to any extent
Lets see what happens... I hope India gains from it.. Just praying that this info doesnt fall in hands of China, coz India could lose very badly from it.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Regualr news outles are not able to give any updates. The search operation for missing State leader is unprecedented. More like a mini WAR. Wonder why? Need to check blogs etc to know more.
<b>Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy Missing</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->E<b>lite commandos armed with night vision equipment joined 2,000-odd security forces, six choppers and Sukhoi jets </b>to scour a large swathe of forests over which a helicopter carrying Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YSR Reddy went missing on Wednesday.
Officials said bad weather might have forced the pilot to take a detour and fly over the Nallamala forests that span the districts of Kurnool, Prakasam and Kadapa, and are considered to have presence of Naxals. There was no success, however, from what could be Indiaâs biggest ever rescue and search operation for a VIP â a man who was credited much for the Congress partyâs surprise return to power in 2004 and a repeat of that victory in 2009.
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âNo good news yet ⦠we are keeping our fingers crossed,â Home Minister P Chidambaram said in New Delhi.
<b>Reddy, 60, took off in a Bell 430 helicopter from Hydrabadâs old Begumpet Airport at 8.38 am for a village in Andhra Pradeshâs southern Chittoor district, but 35 minutes into the flight the chopper lost contact with the air traffic controller.</b>
<b>At the time, it was flying at a height of about 1.25 km from the ground and was 140 kilometers away from Hyderabad,</b> the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said.
Officials said bad weather might have forced the pilot to take a detour and fly over the Nallamala forests that span the districts of Kurnool, Prakasam and Kadapa, and are considered to have presence of Naxals.
Five helicopters and a Dornier aircraft searched the area, but met with no success until darkness set in. They will resume operations at the break of dawn, said Union Home Secretary GK Pillai.
Eight hundred police and paramilitary forces were continuing the search through the night, said Mukesh Meena, Collector, Kurnool district.
Prayers were held across the state for Reddy, who has sustained his popularity in the state with a wide array of subsidy and welfare plans for the poor.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Why Sukhoi jets and 2000 Elite commando? This is over kill for CM and when 1000 s of people were dying in Mumbai, Moron Singh was thinking for 6 hours whether to send commandos to protect common citizens.
'<b>Helicopter may have made safe landing</b>'<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The Andhra Pradesh Civil Aviation Corporation, which manages the two government-owned helicopters, has ruled out the possibility of the Bell 430 helicopter carrying state Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy [ Images ] having crashed.
Corporation Managing Director K V Brahmanand Reddy, in a statement issued in Hyderabad on Wednesday, said the helicopter was equipped with an Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) capable of automatic transmission of its position. He said the ELT would have been activated in the event of a crash landing or any other unforeseen eventuality.
Reddy said one Dornier 228 twin engine aircraft, which is specifically equipped to pick up ELT frequency transmissions, was launched from the Indian Air Force base in Yelahanka, Karnataka, to search for the missing helicopter.
'The aircraft did not pick up any transmission in the target zone as identified from the last known transmission. As there is no indication of such an activation/pick up by satellite, we can expect no such eventuality. The likelihood of the helicopter having carried out a safe landing at some inaccessible location is highly probable,' Reddy said.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Why is Congress claiming the situation to be critical? YSR is a State CM and it is understandable that the State and the GoI do their best to track him and others. As a leader it is expected that more money and effort is put in for the search/rescue than what would be spent for an aam admi. It is expected. But the INC leaders in Delhi appear to be walking on hot coals. What is the matter?
I heard rumors - just rumors - that YSR was the cash cow for Sonia matha. It is my long time held view that Andhra Pradesh is the stinkiest richest place on this mother earth.
<b>Congress gears up for âcrisisâ situation</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->By evening, Congress president Sonia Gandhi asked Union Law Minister M. Veerappa Moily and Minister of State for Science & Technology Prithviraj Chavan to head for Hyderabad at the earliest to deal with the situation. Although there was no confirmation, party insiders did not rule out the possibility of Ms. Gandhi going to Hyderabad herself on Thursday.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<b>India Resumes Search for Minister After Helicopter Goes Missing</b> <!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The military deployed a Sukhoi fighter jet with an onboard radar for high resolution ground mapping to help with the search, Doordarshan reported on its Web site.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-Swamy G+Sep 3 2009, 07:26 AM-->QUOTE(Swamy G @ Sep 3 2009, 07:26 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->I guess they are worried about the impact on their money supply.
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Yes, from where they will get money for next election.
<!--QuoteBegin-Swamy G+Sep 3 2009, 07:31 AM-->QUOTE(Swamy G @ Sep 3 2009, 07:31 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->In a worst case scenario, is there any danger to the State government in AP or even MMS government at the Center?
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<b>⢠Search down to 5-km radius in forest: Chavan
⢠'Nothing found in ISRO aircraft's 41 photos'
⢠YSR wanted choppers to reach out to the masses
⢠'Naxals did not shoot down the chopper'
⢠Sonia monitoring Reddy search operation </b>
There is something fishy in this entire affair regarding he disappearance and discovery of the good Christian's chopper. The good Christian was certainly a US asset with the pretAlaya of south India having its roots among the unmatta-s of krau~nchadvIpa.
