Punjab: FIR registered after drone activity disrupts Amritsar airport flights

Amritsar (Punjab) [India], September 7 (ANI): The Punjab Police on Monday registered an FIR against unknown persons following reports of drone activity near the Amritsar International Airport last night, which led to significant disruption in flight operations. Speaking to ANI, Kanwalpreet Singh Chahal, SSP Amritsar Rural, stated that a formal complaint was lodged by the Airport Authority this morning, following which a search operation was launched in the surrounding areas. 'The police were alerted to an incident last night, and the Airport Authority lodged a formal complaint this morning. Consequently, an FIR has been registered against an unknown person under relevant sections of the law. Preliminary inquiries revealed that a Kabaddi tournament was taking place in a nearby village, so we are investigating that angle as well. We have also deployed police teams to the surrounding villages, and a search operation is currently underway,' SSP Chahal said. Highlighting the gravity of the security breach, the SSP noted that the illegal drone activity caused major inconvenience to passengers, leading to the cancellation of several flights. 'I would like to use this platform to appeal to the public: please do not engage in such activities-specifically flying drones without permission-in this area. This is a high-security zone near the airport where drone activity is strictly prohibited within a 25-kilometre radius. Such actions caused significant inconvenience yesterday, including the cancellation of some flights. I urge everyone to refrain from such activities in the future,' the officer warned. Operations at Amritsar airport were suspended for nearly an hour and a half on Sunday night after drones were spotted across the airfield, forcing the diversion of seven flights before the situation was declared normal, Airport Director Anirudh Kumar Sharma said. Speaking to ANI, Sharma said the Air Traffic Control (ATC) unit received a report from the Indian Air Force at approximately 9.45 pm stating that drones had been spotted across the airfield. Following the airport's Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for drone sightings, a Joint Action Committee was activated and assembled in the control tower. The committee determined that the drone activity could disrupt scheduled landings, leading to the decision to close the airfield. Operations were suspended around 9:50 pm. "At approximately 9:45 pm, the Air Traffic Control (ATC) unit received a report from the Indian Air Force stating that drones had been spotted across the airfield. By that time, several aircraft scheduled to land in Amritsar were already circling overhead. Following our Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for drone sightings, a Joint Action Committee was activated and assembled in the control tower. They determined that the drone activity could disrupt scheduled landings, so the decision was made to close the airfield for operations,' he said. With multiple aircraft holding overhead, seven flights had to be diverted, two to Chandigarh and five to Delhi, Sharma said. Police are investigating the incident. 'Airport operations were suspended around 9:50 pm. In the meantime, we had to divert aircraft that were holding overhead; there were approximately seven such aircraft. Two flights were diverted to Chandigarh, and five were diverted to Delhi. Around 23:00 hours (11:00 pm), the Joint Action Committee assessed that the situation was under control and--since there was no further drone activity--decided to resume normal operations; we declared operations open starting at 23:15 hours. Subsequently, the flights began returning. Of the seven diverted flights, five returned; one Air India flight that had gone to Delhi was cancelled, and the Malaysia flight is expected to arrive today. Everything has returned to normal. As for the investigation, that matter is being handled by the police,' he added. (ANI)