CBI inquiry into YSR’s copter crash

September 07, 2009 03:31 pm | Updated December 17, 2016 03:56 am IST - HYDERABAD

HYDERABAD (AP) 22/08/2009: Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy  during a video conference to review the drought situation in the State with district collectors at Secretariat in Hyderabad on Saturday.
--PHOTO: NAGARA GOPAL NICAID:110411208

HYDERABAD (AP) 22/08/2009: Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy during a video conference to review the drought situation in the State with district collectors at Secretariat in Hyderabad on Saturday. --PHOTO: NAGARA GOPAL NICAID:110411208

The Andhra Pradesh government on Monday ordered a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the September 2 helicopter crash in the Nallamala forests in which Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy and four others were killed.

Earlier, Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram readily agreed to the request for a CBI inquiry made by Chief Minister K. Rosaiah in a letter to him.

Besides, a committee comprising M.R. Reddy, retired IPS officer and expert in VIP security; and the former Director-General of Civil Aviation, H.S. Khosla, was constituted to inquire into the circumstances that existed “before, during and after” the Bell-430 helicopter crashed. It would submit its report within 60 days.

The investigations would be held in addition to two separate inquiries already being conducted by the DGCA and the Criminal Investigation Department of the State police.

Talks with ministers

These decisions were taken after Mr. Rosaiah held discussions with ministers and officials on the recommendations of a committee led by Home Minister P. Sabitha Reddy. Agriculture Minister N. Raghuveera Reddy, Chief Secretary P. Ramakanth Reddy, Director-General of Police S.S.P. Yadav and Additional DGP (Intelligence) K. Aravinda Rao were the other members of the committee.

Briefing journalists, Ms. Sabitha Reddy and Mr. Raghuveera Reddy said they did not see any problem in field-level coordination among the four different inquiries. Ms. Reddy said each inquiry body would be independent, but would work in cohesion with the others, and the material and findings could be shared among them.

“The purpose of each inquiry is different. The DGCA is dealing with technical aspects of the crash, while the CID is looking into other reasons like negligence. The experts committee, on the other hand, will go into the circumstances that prevailed before, during and after the crash, while the CBI will cover the entire gamut of the tragedy.”

The two Ministers said it was the responsibility of the government to dispel doubts raised about the circumstances that led to the crash. One such doubt was why the Bell-430 helicopter, which had been confined to the hangar at the Begumpet airport here for long, was allowed to fly and whether the DGCA had given clearance for taking it out.

The CBI and the experts committee would also focus on why pilot S.K. Bhatia deviated 18 km from the original flight path, and identify lapses on the part of the administration, if any, which led to the crash.

To a question, the Home Minister dismissed as “untrue” reports that RDX was found at the crash site.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.