Mumbai police seeks explanation on drone pizza delivery
RASHMI RAJPUT
Twelve days after an unmanned drone was used to deliver a pizza to a flat in a high rise in Worli in Central Mumbai, the Mumbai police has written to the city based pizza outlet asking why they had not taken police permission.
The Police say that Francesco’s Pizzerias drone delivery posed a security risk. A pizza was delivered using a four-rotor drone on May 11 to a customer whose flat was located 1.5 km away from its office in Lower Parel in Central Mumbai. A video of the experiment went viral after which the police filed a complaint.
“An unmanned vehicle cannot be used in Mumbai without seeking the requisite security clearance. This includes aerial vehicles. The outlet never approached us for any permission. We learnt about it through the media and have demanded an explanation,” Additional Commissioner of Police, Madhukar Pandey told The Hindu.
The police have also written to the Air Traffic Control (ATC) at the Mumbai International Airport. It has asked whether the pizza outlet had sought permission for conducting the experiment.
When contacted, the spokesperson for the outlet refused to comment.
Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal, one of the alleged handlers in the 26/11 terror attack case had told investigators that Pakistan was planning an aerial attack on the city and had trained paragliders, after which Mumbai police had tightened its rules. They had even requested building societies to not allow access to strangers to the terraces of the buildings.
“Mumbai has an imminent threat perception and activities like these pose a huge security risk and therefore we asked for an explanation,” Mr. Pandey added.
