Abandoned drone sends police into tizzy in Jammu

Jammu Tawi, July 13: The police in Jammu went into a tizzy on Monday after a drone was found abandoned in a village on the outskirts of the city, officials said.

The drone was initially believed to have come from Pakistan through the International Border (IB), but a subsequent investigation revealed that it was owned by the Indian Army and got grounded after its battery drained out during a routine exercise, they said.

A police party recovered the drone from village Boothai Chak in the jurisdiction of police post Phallian Mandal after getting information from the locals at around 11.30 am.

Senior officers rushed to the scene on getting the information as it was believed that the drone had come from Pakistan which is making repeated attempts to smuggle weapons and drugs by such flying objects, officials said.

However, it came to light that the drone belonged to the Indian Army and had deviated from its track during routine exercise after its battery got drained out as a result of which it fell in the village, they said.

On June 20, the Border Security Force had shot down a hexacopter drone with a payload of five-and-a-half kilograms, including a sophisticated US-made M4 semi-automatic carbine and seven grenades, at village Rathua in the vicinity of Border Outpost Pansar in Kathua district.

Following the first-of-its-kind incident, the security forces and police are on high alert along the IB and the Line of Control (LoC) to foil any attempt of Pakistan to smuggle weapons and drugs through drones into Jammu and Kashmir.