Drone at Tirumala Causes Anxious Moments

TIRUPATI: A drone flying at the 53rd turn on the first ghat road leading from Tirumala to Tirupati caused some anxious moments.

Alert devotees who noticed the drone in operation immediately informed the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) security personnel. Videos and photos of the drone in flight at the holy site also surfaced on social media.

The appearance of the drone caused quite a stir as it exposed a security flaw on part of the TTD.

A devasthanam statement later clarified: "TTD vigilance and security personnel have seized the lightweight plastic folded nano drone. Dinesh, a Haryana-based devotee, had brought and flown the drone. The devotee says he is unaware of the TTD rules that prohibit the use of drones or drone cameras in Tirumala due to security reasons."

TTD officials claimed that the drone escaped the stringent checking procedures at the Alipiri checkpoint, as it was made of lightweight plastic and could be folded.

"It could thus not be detected even at the Alipiri scanning point," the TTD statement added.

Tirumala police have taken the drone operator into custody. Investigations are underway to find out how he managed to sneak in the prohibited drone evading multi-layered security.