Chennai: The city police on Sunday night booked Tamil film actor-director Pandiarajan's son for flying an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) in Mylapore without obtaining permission.
Police said a night watchman alerted the cops about spotting an UAV hovering in the sky on Bishop Wallace Avenue, around midnight. The cops rushed to the scene and identified it as a drone, which can be fitted with a hi-tech camera to capture snapshots and videos to get a bird’s eye view.
Investigations revealed the UAV was flown by Pandiarajan's son Premarajan, (23), resident of Sivasailam street, T. Nagar and his friends living in Mylapore. Preliminary investigations revealed the UAV did not have any camera mounted on it. "It appears they had recently purchased the device and wanted to test it here in Mylapore. They had not filmed anything with it so far", said a senior police official, who is privy to the investigation.
Premarajan was booked on charges of disobedience to an order duly promulgated by a public servant, negligent conduct with respect to machinery and an act endangering life or personal safety of others.
Though Premarajan had voluntarily disclosed the drones that were in his possession and had also applied for permission to fly them, such permission is yet to be accorded.
Since the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is in the process of formulating the regulations for certification and operation of the use of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), a notification issued by it states that no non-government agency, organisation or an individual can launch an UAS in Indian civil airspace for any purpose until such regulations are issued.
The top brass of city police came out with an announcement last year in this regard insisting that the permission of the local police was mandatory. They had clarified this after a couple of incidents of drones flying in the city were reported.
