CM, victim of security lapse

It was a security and administrative lapse all along. Security advisors to the state government had not bothered to suggest that the Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, carry a satellite telephone with him at least while heli-hopping.

Worse, the team accompanying the Chief Minister of a progressive state does not possess even a simple jungle survival kit. There’s no emergency position indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) system with the chief security officer.

The team also did not bother to carry the Rs 150 blinker lamp, which serves as a beacon light to attract the attention of rescue teams in case of emergency. Only the government-owned BSNL has a cellular network in some pockets of the thick Nallamala forests over which the helicopter carrying the chief minister went missing.

Ironically, none of the members of the Chief Minister’s team has a BSNL cellphone connection. They have either Airtel or Idea, which do not have proper network in the jungle or countryside.

Moreover, the helicopter does not have a strong communication network except for its very high frequency communication system. It
has a limited range and the VHF gets connected to the nearest police network as the helicopter traverses through.

“We have not been using satellite phones. So we did not think of it,” was the casual reply of M Ramesh Reddy, one of the chief security officers of the Chief Minister. The other chief security officer John Wesley is accompanying the chief minister in the helicopter. He went on to say that the helicopter was in good condition and was equipped with a VHF set, without knowing that the very high frequency does not have wide range of communication, in contrast to high frequency sets.

AP Aviation Corporation managing director, Mr K.V. Brahmananda Reddy, also admitted the security lapse when he said the Chief Minister’s team was not carrying a satellite phone for emergency communication. Modern satellite phones are also equipped with distress radio beams, which sent out a unique SOS signal which is repeated quite often. The signal can be detected from virtually any point on the globe.

That the security advisors have taken the chief minister’s security rather lightly is evident from the fact that the team is equipped with only a pistol. Given the thick forest area and the naxal threat in the Nallamala forests as also the rugged hilly terrain, the chief security officer accompanying Rajasekhar Reddy should have taken extra precautions. But he did not bother to carry even a torch light as the team did not anticipate any trouble and the flight was during the day.

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source:Deccan chronicle