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Five Russians detained for flying drone near Taj, released after apology
A day after the first case was registered in connection with drone-flying near the Taj Mahal, the airspace above the monument was violated yet again on Wednesday.
A day after the first case was registered in connection with drone-flying near the Taj Mahal, the airspace above the monument was violated yet again on Wednesday. This time, it was a group of five Russian tourists who were detained for flying a drone in the restricted airspace. The group was released after they submitted a written apology.
“The five Russian tourists had travelled from Delhi and reached Agra in the wee hours of Wednesday. They straightaway reached ‘Gyara Siddi’ near Mehtab Bagh, in the vicinity of the Taj Mahal,” said Dinesh Singh, in-charge tourism police station of Agra.
Singh said the drone did not fly high as the police personnel stationed nearby nabbed the tourists almost immediately. “They were questioned about violating the ban on flying drones in the vicinity of Taj. The tourists expressed unawareness about the rule and were released after they submitted an apology letter,” he said.
The tourists were identified as Andrey Iwanow, Andrevich Efimov, Khose Tbore, Nikoloevich Robin and Alex Magu, he said.
To recall, a drone was spotted violating the Taj airspace on November 16. Its owner(s) could not be traced and on Tuesday, a case was registered against unidentified person(s) in this connection.
The Agra administration has banned drone-flying within 500m radius of the Taj Mahal.
However, lack of awareness about the rule has resulted in repeated violations by tourists -- mostly foreigners. In such a scenario, violators are allowed to go free after submitting apology letters.
PAST VIOLATIONS
March 5, 2018: A tourist from Philippines was forced to ground the drone that he was flying from the rooftop of a hotel near the Taj Mahal. Later, the hotel manager was arrested. Agra administration has repeatedly asked hotel owners and managers to inform tourists about the restrictions on drone-flying near the Taj.
February 10, 2018: A drone was found flying in the Taj Mahal airspace. The police launched a search but could not nab the operator.
February 22, 2017: A South Korean professor, Chun Hong Chul, 50, was held for flying a drone in the ‘no-flying zone’ around the Taj Mahal. He was allowed to go after submitting an undertaking to cooperate in the matter.
December 2017: A damaged drone camera was recovered from the Yamuna basin. A local youth had handed over the camera to the Itimad-ud-Daula police of Agra.
