Jammu drone attack: Drones, unmanned vehicles banned in Srinagar

Srinagar, July 04: The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Sunday banned the use and possession of drones and other unmanned aerial vehicles in Srinagar, a week after two Indian Air Force personnel were injured in twin drone attack.

In an order, deputy commissioner of Srinagar Mohammad Aijaz directed those having drone cameras or other similar kinds of unmanned aerial vehicles to deposit them in local police stations.

The order, however, exempted government departments using drones for mapping, surveys and surveillance in agricultural, environmental conservation and disaster mitigation sectors but directed them to inform the local police station before using them.

The administration cautioned that any violation of the guidelines will attract punitive action, and directed police to implement the restrictions in letter and spirit.

The order to ban the use of drones came after the recommendations of the city''s police chief.

"The decentralised airspace access has to be regulated in view of recent episodes of misuse of drones posing threat to security infrastructure as reported by media/other reliable sources," the order said.

To "secure the aerial space" near the vital installations and highly populated areas, it is "imperative" to discontinue the use of drones in all social and cultural gatherings to eliminate any risk of injury to the life and damage of property, the order said.

"Keeping in view the security situation, apart from concerns of breach of privacy, nuisance and trespass, it is extremely dangerous to let unmanned aerial vehicles wander around in the skies within the territorial jurisdiction of district Srinagar," it said.

The district magistrate imposed "restrictions/ban on the storage, sale/ possession, use and transport of drones/similar kinds of unmanned aerial vehicles in the city".

"Persons already having the drone cameras/ similar kind of unmanned aerial vehicles in their possession shall ground the same in the local police stations under proper receipt," the order said.

The explosions took place around 1.40 am within six minutes of each other. The first blast ripped off the roof of a single-storey building at the technical area of the airport manned by the IAF in the Satwari area on the outskirts of Jammu. The second one was on the ground.