The scattered remains of YSR’s helicopter at the crash site near Kurnool. (PTI)

Hyderabad, Sept. 7: The Andhra Pradesh government has sought a CBI investigation into the helicopter crash that killed Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, shaken by questions about the circumstances preceding the tragedy and the confusion that followed in its aftermath.

Home minister Sabita Indira Reddy said doubts had been raised about the cause of the crash and the reaction of government agencies, with the chief secretary and the state police chief drawing severe criticism from the cabinet.

“Hence, we opted for an independent inquiry apart from our own investigations by the CD(CID) and an expert committee,” Reddy said, adding that a parallel probe by the directorate-general of civil aviation would continue.

The announcement came hours before investigators said the Bell 430 helicopter carrying YSR was not fitted with an Emergency Location Transmitter, a device that sends signals in the event of a crash landing.

The expert committee, which will report on procedural and technical lapses that led to the crash, will be headed by M.R. Reddy, a former IPS officer who was once chief of Rajiv Gandhi’s security, and H.S. Khola, former director-general of civil aviation.

Sources in the home ministry said the panel had a specific agenda: to fix responsibility.

The government has turned up the heat on chief secretary P. Ramakantha Reddy and director-general of police S.S.P. Yadav for “failure, neglect and delay” in standard supervision and rescue operations and also arrangements for the state funeral.

“How come you had no information on the missing chief minister’s helicopter till it was reported on TV channels?” a senior minister questioned the two officials at yesterday’s cabinet meeting presided over by interim chief minister K. Rosaiah.

“Is it a joke that for 24 hours the whereabouts of a chief minister was not traced and nobody in the administration had any clear opinion as to what could have happened?” asked a minister.

Reddy

The most biting was the charge of home minister Reddy. “How did the DGP use a helicopter (the Augusta 139 purchased for YSR) to reach the funeral site in Kadapa while I had to go by road and was caught up in a horrible traffic jam?” she asked. The police chief did not answer, sources said.

Preliminary investigations based on clues found at the crash site suggest that the Bell 430 aircraft carrying YSR could have been destroyed by a “mid-air explosion”.

Police officers who visited the crash spot twice saw several “pieces of human flesh” strewn over a radius of half a kilometre.

“Also,” said an official, “the trees at the ground level were not burnt and there was not much damage to the surface of the crash area, which indicates the helicopter could have exploded at least 1,000 feet above.”

According to the forensic report, two fingers allegedly missing in the left hand of YSR have now been traced with the identification of a diamond ring.