The chief minister of India's Andhra Pradesh state Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy has been killed in a helicopter crash and his body was found Thursday, said Indian Home Ministry sources.

Reddy's helicopter went missing in a densely forested area of the south-central state on Wednesday amid heavy rains. After intensive search over the past whole day and whole night, the wreckage was found 40 miles east to Kurnool town in the state, said the sources.

Reddy, 60, was going to Chittoor, 588 km from the state capital Hyderabad for a function when his helicopter went missing.

His special secretary and his security officer and two pilots were also killed in the crash, said the sources.

Reddy was a heavy weight politician of the Congress Party who was reelected in May.

(Xinhua News Agency September 3, 2009)