IAF helicopters resume search for missing Andhra CM

Indian Air Force helicopters resumed search operations for the helicopter carrying Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy, nearly 24 hours after it went missing in the dense Nallamalla forests. Where did YSR's chopper go? | Location map| Timeline of events | Listen to podcast | Who is YSR? | Chidambaram briefs Sonia

Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters on Thursday resumed search operations for the helicopter carrying Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy, nearly 24 hours after it went missing in the dense Nallamalla forests.

HT Image

At the day break, at least five IAF helicopters resumed search operations while the army and police intensified the biggest-ever search operation, which has now narrowed down to five kilometres radius in Kurnool district where the chopper was last seen by some villagers.

The fate of the chief minister, his special secretary, chief security officer and two pilots remained uncertain even a day after the chopper went missing while flying from Hyderabad to Chittoor district.

The chopper carrying YSR, as the 60-year-old chief minister is known, his special secretary Subrahmanyam, his chief security officer ASC Wesley and two pilots, took off 8.35 am from Hyderabad and was headed for Chittoor, 588 km away and close to Tamil Nadu.

Chief Secretary P Ramakant Reddy told reporters that the satellite images captured by a low-flying aircraft of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) could not provide any clue about the missing chopper.

The authorities now hope to get some information from the images taken by two Sukhoi SU-30MKI combat jets of IAF which flew over the area last night.