Panic as IAF’s UAV falls in Gurdaspur

Ravi Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Kalanaur (Gurdaspur), Aug 10

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 umanned 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”.

Remotely piloted from Jammu

The drone was being remotely controlled by the IAF from Jammu, preliminary information gathered by the police revealed

The pilot of the drone, which didn’t have any weapons, apparently lost control and it fell in paddy fields at Khanowal village in Kalanaur

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 India 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.