While shutterbugs took vantage positions to photograph the discharge of water from KRS reservoir earlier this month, a 21-year-old youth from Mysuru flew a drone from a bridge downstream to capture aerial photographs of the spectacle.
As soon as the photographs went viral on social media and grabbed the attention of the authorities, a complaint was lodged with the police, leading to the arrest of Sandeep, who is pursuing a diploma in a polytechnic in Mysuru.
Confirming his arrest, Superintendent of Mandya district police K. Parasuram told The Hindu that the accused had been booked under the Aircraft Act of 1934 and Karnataka Irrigation Act for taking photographs using a drone in violation of the law. KRS reservoir is a restricted area, he added.
Kishore Kumar, Assistant Executive Engineer, Cauvery Neeravari Nigam Ltd., KRS reservoir, who had lodged the complaint, said the drone had been flown to take photographs when water was discharged from the dam on August 4.
A complaint was lodged on Friday and Sandeep, who is a native of Bengaluru, was arrested by evening by a team led by KRS Police Station Sub-Inspector Naveen Gowda. He has now been released on bail, the police said. The drone, its controller and the accused’s mobile phone, valued at ₹72,000, had been seized.
