Locals pray for Y S R Reddy's safe return

Believe that floods in the area doubled with dense forest could have caused technical snag in the chopper

At first, the tribals living near Akkamahadevi caves dismissed it as some sound coming out of the Nallamalla forest. But soon after they realised that it's actually of the choppers that are hovering around the forest in search of Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S R Reddy.

Fishermen found it

"The local fishermen heard a loud sound at around 11 am," said Sreenivas K, a Vijaywada-based engineer, who was in Sri Sailam. He added that then the fishermen reported it to the local police when they got to know of the Reddy's chopper going missing." Since then, the Nallamalla forest that is located between Hyderabad and Chittoor, is drawing huge crowds as Reddy's chopper was last seen near Atmakura village near the woods.

Flood's the culprit

The villagers believe that the floods in the area and dense forest could have caused technical snag in the chopper. Meanwhile, as the search operation is still on, the locals are praying for Reddy's safe return.

"We are all hoping that he'll return safe, and also pray that the sound was not that of his chopper," said Sreenivas.