2 caught flying drones near TISS without permission, detained

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“We had sent a letter to the home department through the office of the Director general of police, in which we had asked that the practice of flying drones and paragliders be regularised, as there needs to be some control on this. The letter also included draft rules for approval, and the proposal is currently under consideration,” said Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Deven Bharti.

He added that the letter included recommendations like registration of all paragliding institutions in the city with the police station concerned, along with regular submission of information about how many of their paragliders would be flying in the city on any given day, as well as making it mandatory for anyone wishing to fly drones in the city for any reason to seek permission from the police and to specify the reasons for flying the drone.

The issue of devices like drones, paragliders and unmanned aerial devices (UAVs) has been an important one over the last couple of years, after intelligence inputs about such gadgets being used for terror strikes were received by central intelligence agencies and were passed on to the Mumbai Police.

“Taking into account the possibility of explosives being attached to such gadgets for the purpose of an attack, or camera bearing drones of UAVs being used for reconnaissance, we currently have a standing order prohibiting flying of drones without police permission under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). Also, certain areas in Mumbai are designated as no-fly zones on occasions like Independence Day and Republic Day,” said a senior Mumbai Police officer.

gautam.mengle@expressindia.com