ANDHRA PRADESH Chief Minister’s chopper crashed in the forest of Nallahmallah on Wednesday, September 2, some 200 km from the State capital Hyderabad on the Rudrakod Hill, killing all the five people including YSR, onboard. Apart from Chief Minister those died in the tragic incident include Dr P Subramanium, the special secretary to the Chief Minister, ASC Wesley, Chief Security Officer, pilots Group Captain SK Bhatia and Captain MS Reddy.
The chief minister’s chopper went missing on Wednesday morning. It lost contact with the air traffic controller at 0935 hr (Indian Standard Time) yesterday (Wednesday), and since then search operation was on to trace the chopper. Locales, IAF, Army and Police force were pressed in to locate the missing chopper. ISRO too was helping in the search operation, which was to date the biggest in the history of Independent India.
Dr Yeduguri Sandiniti Rajasekhara Reddy, popularly known as YSR was a medical graduate who did his MBBS from MR Medical College. Born in a family of social workers he rose to prominence through sheer dedication towards the socio-economic development of the people. During his career spanning 25 years, YSR held many key positions including APCC President twice and leader of opposition apart from Chief Minister of the state. He organised many agitations and mass rallies to raise issues concerning common man, namely poverty, farmers’ suicide and drought during his political career.
Prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi are slated to reach Hyderabad to join the bereaved family of YSR. Leaders cutting across party lines are thronging Hyderabad to condole the death of the charismatic leader. Former Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and popular actor Chiranjeev have expressed shock at the sudden demise of YSR.