Andhra home minister visits YSR chopper crash site
September 13th, 2009 - 10:34 pm ICT by IANSHyderabad, Sep 13 (IANS) Andhra Pradesh Home Minister P.Sabita Indra Reddy Sunday visited the hillock in Nallamalla forests in Kurnool district where a helicopter crash Sep 2 killed Chief Minister Y.S.Rajasekhara Reddy and four others.
It was an emotional visit for the minister, whom the late chief minister called his younger sister and would launch all his programmes and campaigns from her assembly constituency of Chevella.
With tears in her eyes, Sabita, who was appointed the state’s first woman home minister after Congress retained power in the recent assembly elections, paid floral tributes to YSR, as the chief minister was popularly known.
Sabita, the first minister to visit the crash site, announced that the government would construct a befitting memorial for the late chief minister.
She told reporters that the investigations into the crash were on and some vital clues were already collected.
The minister said the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) had launched its probe besides the investigations by the federal Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the atate’s Crime Investigation Department (CID). The government has also set up a two-member expert committee for a comprehensive probe.
Sabita said she was sad at not being able to attend the last rites of YSR at his native town Pulivendula in Kadapa district. The minister was caught in a huge traffic jam and could not reach the site in time for burial.
YSR, his special secretary, chief security officer and two pilots were killed when their helicopter crashed on a hillock in the forests. The chief minister was on his way to Chittoor district from Hyderabad to launch a mass contact programme “Racchabanda”.
“I feel that launching this programme from Chevella could have saved his life,” she said.
YSR had launched 1500-km state-wide “padyatra” from Chevella in Ranga Reddy district near Hyderabad in 2003. This walkathon helped him storm to power in 2004 and since then he launched every major scheme and poll campaign from Chevella.
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- Tributes paid to YSR on second death anniversary - Sep 02, 2011
- CBI team visits YSR chopper crash site - Sep 12, 2009
- Bodies of YSR, four others recovered (Second Lead) - Sep 03, 2009
- Week later, mystery of YSR chopper crash unsolved - Sep 09, 2009
- Tributes paid to YSR on birth anniversary - Jul 08, 2011
- DGCA probe team visits YSR chopper crash site - Sep 09, 2009
- Reddy wanted to 'surprise' villagers - Sep 03, 2009
- CBI to begin YSR chopper crash probe Friday - Sep 10, 2009
- As always, YSR wanted to know people's problems - Sep 03, 2009
- Supreme Court notices to six Andhra ministers (Lead) - Mar 12, 2012
- Sabita Reddy is Andhra's first woman home minister - May 26, 2009
- CBI to probe YSR helicopter crash - Sep 07, 2009
- Jagan group condemns allegations against YSR's aide - Dec 11, 2010
- YSR's son defies Congress leadership, resumes his yatra - Aug 23, 2010
Tags: assembly elections, chief minister, chief security officer, civil aviation, crash site, crime investigation department, department cid, dgca, emotional visit, expert committee, federal directorate, first minister, floral tributes, helicopter crash, hillock, home minister, last rites, racchabanda, sabita, walkathon
