A fire scare on the helicopter of Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao minutes before it was to take off in Karimnagar district set the alarm bells ringing on Tuesday.
Smoke was detected emanating from a bag carrying a communications battery kit inside the chopper and alert security personnel immediately picked it up and threw it out.
The incident occurred in Karimnagar, minutes before the Chief Minister was to leave for Adilabad district.
The Chief minister's son and Cabinet Minister KT Rama Rao said he was safe.
"Just checked up with CMO team. All is well with Hon'ble CM and he is continuing his tour in Adilabad district," he tweeted.
"The VHS set used by the police caught in short circuit was found and removed immediately. The CM and others traveling in the helicopter are safe," the Telangana DGP Mahender Reddy was quoted as saying.
According to reports, KCR was at Murmur in Ramagundam to lay the foundation stone for the lift irrigation project.
A video of the incident also did the rounds on social media. Watch it below.
A bag kept inside CM KCR helo found emitting smoke in Karimnagar,sent security into jitter. Later Bag de boarded from the chopper. Investigation launched. #Telangana pic.twitter.com/oAOmIuIQw5
— Aashish (@Ashi_IndiaToday) February 27, 2018
In May last year, a group of 18 commandos from the anti-naxal force GreyHounds replaced personnel from the Telangana State Special Police (TSSP) as part of his security convoy, based on intelligence inputs.
“Our main objective is to ensure foolproof security to the CM and towards that the decision to rope in the Greyhounds commandos was taken,” a senior official had said at the time.
Depending on the level of threat, security is classified into various categories.
KCR presently enjoys Z+ security, which involves round-the-clock personal security.
In 2016, the Telangana Chief Minister moved into ‘Pragathi Bhavan’, which comprised of the CM's residence and office. Spread over 9 acres, the bungalow has bullet proof windows, a mini-auditorium, a large office space and is guarded like a fortress.