Hyderabad, September 02 2009: The 60-year-old Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh took off in his helicopter for Chittoor at 8.35 am on Wednesday.

Like always, YSR Reddy was travelling with his special secretary Subramaniam, chief security officer Wilson, and two pilots on the 7-seater Bell 430 helicopter.

The journey should have taken him 2 hours.

But at 9.35 am, air traffic control officials lost contact with the helicopter when it was over the Kurnool district.

The weather had turned stormy with gales of wind and bursts of rain.

Seven helicopters were soon sent on a search and rescue mission.

But heavy rain made their mission a tough one.

The dense forest area in the Nallamalalla hill range where Reddy went missing is 250 kms from Hyderabad.

There are hardly any roads, and no mobile or radio networks.

This is also Naxal Country.

Sources say that helicopter was spotted between 9.15 to 9.30 am.

By noon, worried ministers and officials went public with the news that they didn't know where the chief minister was.

Then followed chaos.

Local police officials and politicians started telling journalists that the chief minister was safe.

Not true, said the Home Minister in Delhi.

TV channels began reporting the contradictions.

Local channels, including one owned by the chief minister's son said YSR was safe.

But Air Force choppers ordered into search and rescue delivered no good news.

And the Congress soon went on record to say the situation seems grim.

The army, police forces from six districts, ISRO and anti-Naxal forces are all involved in search and rescue operations now.

IAF deployed a Sukhoi fighter jet with on-board radar for high resolution ground mapping to locate it.

The jets are equipped with Synthetic Aperture Radar that enables it to fly at night and in poor weather conditions.

The Su-30MKI air superiority fighter jet will be supported in the search operation by an air-to-air refueller so that fuel could be transferred to the aircraft while flying and the search can continue uninterrupted.

Accompanied by state Finance Minister K Rosaiah, Reddy said National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA) has been asked to send its low-flying aircraft in the forest where Reddy is last reported to have been.

The aircraft, he said, was swooping down low on the region even as he spoke.

He also made a startling revelation that the US Defence Department has been approached through the Central government for its satellite support.

He said Indian satellites had till now not been able to peer through the clouds.

"They can't provide real-time imagery," he added.

He said the effort was targeted in the Nallamala forest of the state.

PM, Sonia concerned over YSR's safety: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday expressed serious concern over the reported disappearance of a helicopter carrying Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy after it encountered inclement weather in the interior areas of the state.

"Sonia Gandhi and her office are continuously monitoring the situation," Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari told reporters here, and added: "We pray to God for his safety and hope that he returns to work soon." Both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Gandhi were in close touch with the Andhra chief minister's office and promised all help from the centre.

The Congress party was also in constant contact with the state government and the state unit of the party, he said.

Four Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters were despatched in the search mission.

Tewari refused to field further questions, stating there is a "crisis situation in Andhra Pradesh".

"It is an evolving situation; in view of the sensitivity of the matter, I will not say anything more," he said.

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