The Thoppumpady police arrested and released on bail a 26-year-old from Vaduthala on the charge of unauthorised flying of a drone atop the Old Thoppumpady Bridge on Monday.
The drone was seized by the Naval authorities and handed over to the Thoppumpady police. The accused claimed to have flown the drone for his travel blogs and YouTube channel but had no prior approval from the Indian Navy, a prerequisite for any such operations in the vicinity of Naval installations.
The accused claimed that he had bought the drone for around ₹1 lakh from an individual whom he acquainted through online market website OLX and hence could not produce bills.
The police charged him under Sections 151 and 102 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), and the drone was produced in court.
According to the Home Ministry guidelines, remotely-piloted aircraft / drones are not to be flown within the 3km-radius of the perimeter of any civil, private or defence airports or military installations / facilities where military activities / exercises are being carried out, without clearance from the authorities concerned. Guidelines to similar effect have also been issued by the Director General of Civil Aviation.
