Two Russians Detained For Flying Drone Over Konark Sun Temple

Konark: Konark police on Tuesday detained two tourists from Russian for allegedly flying drone over the Sun Temple here.

Flying drones over the 13th century UNESCO heritage site is strictly prohibited.

According to sources, locals spotted the duo shooting visuals of the heritage site through a camera mounted on a drone this morning and informed Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) officials, who immediately detained them for questioning.

On October 27, nine persons were detained for flying drones over Jagannath Temple in Puri. However, investigation revealed that they were part of a Kolkata-based company entrusted with shooting a promotional video on heritage sites by Odisha’s Tourism Department.

Tourism Director Archana Pattnaik had sought permission from the Director-General of ASI on October 11 and permission was granted for the same on October 18. The team was preparing for shooting the film from the roof of Emar Mutt when some locals spotted them and informed police.

In December 2017, four Russian nationals were detained for flying a drone equipped with a camera capable of taking high-definition images over the Jagannath Temple.

The district administration had declared the shrine and its periphery areas a ‘no flying zone’ in 2014 after a quadcopter took aerial videos and photographs of the temple and uploaded them on social media.