Following two incidents of drones flying near defense establishments, Nashik Police in Maharashtra has ordered residents to deposit all drones with nearby police stations.

The order was issued by city police commissioner Jayant Naiknavare on Friday.

The North Maharashtra city has several important defense and government establishments such as the School of Artillery, Deolali Cantonment, India Security Press, Air Force Stations, and Combat Army Aviation School (CATS).?

As per the cases registered with Upnagar police station on August 27 and Adgaon police station on September 24, unauthorized drones were spotted flying over the Combat Army Aviation School and Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) facility near Ojhar, respectively.

Drone flying is prohibited in these areas.?

As per the order issued by the commissioner, private drone owners and operators in the city should immediately hand over their drones to the police stations under whose jurisdiction they live or do business.
Whenever they want to use a drone (for shooting videos or taking pictures, etc.) they would need to take permission from the police, use the drone under police supervision by paying a fee and return it to the police station after use, the order said.

The order will not apply to drones owned by the government, semi-government, and defence establishments.

But these establishments will have to inform the concerned police station in advance about flying a drone.?

The order will be effective till October 15, the official release said.?