Hyderabad: Chief minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao faced tensed moments when smoke emanated from a bag kept inside the chopper in which he was seated. The incident took place at Karimnagar on Tuesday morning when the chief minister was in the copter along with Rajya Sabha member K. Kesava Rao. They were on their way to Peddapalli from the helipad at Laxmipalli in Karimnagar.

“The smoke emanated from the bag containing a VHF communication set carried by the security personnel. Immediately, the security officer picked it up and threw it outside,” said Karimnagar commissioner V.B. Kamalasan Reddy. Other security personnel who were in the ground rushed towards the chopper and picked up the bag from place and shifted it to a remote area.

Senior officials of the district, who were at the ground, panicked after seeing the ugly situation.