Drone flies over Mahakal area after NSA Doval’s visit to Ujjain temple; man from Uttar Pradesh booked

Ujjain, Apr 3 (PTI) A drone flew over the Mahakal area that houses the world famous Mahakaleshwar Temple in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain city just after National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval had concluded his visit to the sacred place, a senior police official said on Monday.

The man who was operating the drone was questioned and later booked, he said.
When contacted, Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Abhishek Anand denied reports in some quarters that the unmanned aerial vehicle flew over the sprawling area when Doval was inside the temple on Saturday night.

The NSA left the temple at around 9 pm and the drone was spotted at about 10.30 pm, he claimed.

The ASP said after the police came to know about the drone in the Mahakal area, where such unmanned aerial objects are not allowed to be operated without permission, it swung into action and registered a case on Sunday.

“We have impounded the drone and questioned the accused, who is aged around 30 and hails from Uttar Pradesh. As he did not have permission, we booked him under section 188 of the IPC,” he added.

Ujjain superintendent of police Sachin Sharma told PTI that the accused was booked for disobeying a government order that bans flying of drones in a prohibited area.

Offence registered under the IPC section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) is bailable. The accused gets bail from the police station on a guarantee after detention, another police officer said.

Doval had offered prayers at the temple on Saturday night and also Sunday morning.

The NSA came to Ujjain late on Saturday after attending the Combined Commanders’ Conference in the state capital Bhopal.

The Mahakaleshwar Temple is one of the 12 ‘jyotirlingas’ in the country and sees a heavy footfall of devotees everyday.