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IAF’s UAV Falls In Gurdaspur, Remotely Controlled From Jammu Base

(This was originally posted on The Tribune by Ravi Dhaliwal)

A day after the seizure of a tiffin bomb and other explosives from a field in Amritsar, tension gripped nearly a dozen villages in Kalanaur sub-division here after an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) drone fell in the paddy fields at Khanowal village around 4.15 pm today.

The “flying machine” later turned out to be a remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) drone belonging to the Jammu base of the IAF. With border police districts of Punjab already on a high alert following yesterday’s seizure in Amritsar, Gurdaspur SSP Nanak Singh was holding a meeting with senior officers at his office when he received information that “a big helicopter had fallen at a village of Kalanaur sub-division after hovering in the sky for 10-15 minutes”.

The SSP along with his team left for Khanowal. Soon, it was learnt the drone actually belonged to the Jammu base of the IAF and had “somehow lost control, following which it meandered its way in the air towards Khanowal”.

The police had a tough time controlling the situation as more than 500 persons had gathered at the spot. As rumours started doing the rounds, around half a dozen PCR vehicles and motorcycles went around warning people against spreading wrong information.

As the team of officers reached Khanowal, they learnt that the “flying machine” belonged to the Jammu base of the Indian Air Force. Upon inspection, it was found that the drone had no capability of carrying weapons.

In the past, there have been incidents of drones from Pakistan intruding into the Indian territory carrying weapons.

Batala SSP Rachpal Singh was later informed about the incident, although Khanowal village falls in the jurisdiction of the Gurdaspur police. The SSP dispatched SHO Ranjodh Singh of Kila Lal Singh police station to the spot.

Preliminary information gathered by the police revealed the drone was being controlled by the IAF from Jammu.

“How it flew all the way to Khanowal village is being inquired into. All we know as for now is that the drone is not dangerous,” said a senior officer.

IAF Initiates Inquiry In Drone Crash In Punjab’s Gurdaspur

Indian Air Force on Wednesday initiated an inquiry after a drone crashed in Gurdaspur’s Malogil village on Tuesday due to a technical snag. The officials are figuring out the cause which led to such an incident.

“A remotely piloted vehicle of the Indian Air Force developed a technical snag while flying in Gurdaspur district of Punjab and carried out a precautionary landing. An inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause,” said IAF.

Earlier on Tuesday, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh met Union Home Minister Amit Shah to seek 25 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) and anti-drone gadgets for Border Security Force (BSF) for protection from Pakistan-backed terror forces.

This information pours in after a high alert was sounded in Punjab on Monday after police recovered a tiffin box fabricated into an improvised explosive device (IED) from a village in Amritsar, which they suspect was part of a consignment dropped by a drone from Pakistan.

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The Tribune

Shankul Bhandare

Hello, I am shankul and I love defence research and development and want to spread it through blogging.

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