CBI to investigate YS Rajasekhara Reddy helicopter crash

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will investigate the helicopter crash in which Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy (YSR) and fours others were killed. P Sabita Indra Reddy, Home Minister of Andhra Pradesh, told reporters in Hyderabad that Union Home Minister P Chidambaram has agreed to the state government’s request for a CBI probe into the helicopter crash.

The state government, meanwhile, has set up a two-member expert committee to investigate the crash “from all angles,” Sabita Indra Reddy said.

The expert committee consists of M R Reddy, retired IPS officer and an expert on VIP security, and H S Khola, former Director-General of Civil Aviation. The committee has been asked to submit its report within 60 days.

“Since many doubts are being raised over the helicopter crash, we decided to hold a thorough inquiry from all angles so that the truth comes out,” she explained.

The state government decided to seek a CBI probe into the tragedy after Chief Minister K Rosaiah held a high-level meeting to discuss the incident, and Union Home Minister P Chidambaram readily agreed to the request, Sabita Indra Reddy told reporters.

However, she added that the investigation into the incident being conducted by the State Crime Investigation department would continue.

It was around 9.35 a.m. on September 2, 2009, that the Bell 430 helicopter in which Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and his entourage went missing.

The wrecked helicopter and the bodies were located the following day only after an extensive search, which lasted a whole night, conducted by several units, including Army commandos, Indian Air Force’s Sukhoi-30 plane, and 5,000 personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

The wreckage of the ill-fated helicopter was found on top of a hill in the dense Nallamalla forests in Kurnoool district.

The four others who died in the crash, besides Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, are Dr P Subramanium, Special Secretary to the Chief Minister, A S C Wesley, Chief Security Officer, and the two pilots – Group Captain S K Bhatia and Captain M S Reddy.

Meanwhile, the autopsy reports of Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and four others who died in the helicopter crash have been handed over to the Kurnool district police.

The reports will be handed over to the Crime Branch (CID) and also the Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGCA), which are investigating the incident.