By IANS,
Hyderabad : The body of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, who was killed in a helicopter crash, will be brought here from Kurnool by 5 p.m, Finance Minister K. Rosaiah said Thursday.
Rosaiah told reporters here that an autopsy will be conducted on all the five bodies that were found Thursday morning in the Nallamalla forests in Kurnool district.
The 60-year-old chief minister, popularly known as YSR, was going from Hyderabad to Chittoor, 588 km away, for a mass contact programme when his helicopter went missing in bad weather around 9.30 a.m. Wednesday in the dense forest range.
Flying with YSR, who this May steered the Congress to a second stint in power, were his principal secretary P. Subramaniam, chief security officer A.S.C. Wesley and pilots Group Captain S.K. Bhatia and Captain M.S. Reddy.
“All the five bodies were charred beyond recognition,” Rosaiah said. He added that there was a possibility that “there was a fire” after the crash.
After being brought to Hyderabad, YSR’s body will be taken to the chief minister’s camp office in Begumpet. The bodies of the other four people would be taken to their respective native places.
The chief minster’s body will be kept at the Lal Bahadur stadium in Hyderabad from 10 a.m. Friday to enable people to pay their last respects.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi and several union ministers are expected to arrive here.
On Friday, at 1 p.m., YSR’s body will be taken to Pulivendula, his native town in Kadapa district where he will be cremated with state honours.
A cabinet meeting will take place at 2 p.m. Thursday where a condolence resolution will be passed, Rosaiah said.