Cops clueless as reports of drone sightings, including one above parliament, rise in Delhi

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Delhi Police has been busy chasing drones for the last couple of weeks. There have been at least three reported sightings of drones or drone-like objects in the sky, including one in the sensitive parliament area, but the police have not been able to find any one of them.

All three sightings have been reported from three different parts of the city. Latest of them was on September 17. “Delhi police security control room was informed about the sighting of a drone-like object in the Parliament area. The air traffic controller at Delhi airport was asked to check the radar but drone movements are usually not captured on the ATC’s radar. However, security personnel were alerted,” a Hindustan Times report quoted a CISF official.

The other two sightings were reported from Mehrauli on September 9 and Vikaspuri on September 3. In both instances, the Delhi police control room informed ATC and asked to check the radar but to no avail.

According to airport officials, each month, 6-7 cases of distractions are reported by pilots due to different objects near the airport. The police, however, have been unsuccessful in locating an object in any of the over 100 cases in the last couple of years.

The basic reason behind such dismal record most probably stems from a communication gap between security officers and the pilots. Pilots usually report the location of objects in nautical miles which the local police are not adjusted to.