US Citizens Detained For Flying Drone Near Rashtrapati Bhavan

Delhi Police have taken a father-son duo from the US into custody for flying drone near Rashtrapati Bhavan.

They were detained on Saturday evening for allegedly flying a drone fitted with a video camera in Lutyens’ Delhi. According to a report in Indian Express, the incident took place on September 14 and the duo was taken into custody the next day.

According to the report, the two American nationals, Peter James Lynn (65) and his son Guillaume Leadbetter Lynn (31), are being questioned by officers from intelligence agencies and the Delhi Police (special cell).

The video shot by the drone had captured footage of Central Secretariat, said the report.

The drone was detected when it was flying near Rashtrapati Bhavan by stationed in Parakram vans at Vijay Chowk. Flying drones is banned in Delhi due to security reasons.

In March, a documentary film maker was arrested for allegedly flying a drone at Kautilya Marg in Chanakyapuri. The prime minister’s residence at Lok Kalyan Marg is just a few hundred metres from the spot.

Delhi Police chief Amulya Patnaik has recently warned about the possibility that militant groups may carry out aerial attacks using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) on dignitaries and vital installations, police said.

On 14 September, two key oil plants in Abqaik and Khurais in Saudi Arabia were hit by a drone attack, disrupting half of the country's crude oil and gas production.

Yemen rebel group Houthis, who claimed responsibility for the attack in retaliation to Saudi Arabia's continued military interference against the rebels in Yemen since 2015, said they used 10 drones, also known as UAV (unmanned aerial vehicles), without giving any details on them, to carry out the attacks.

(With Agency Inputs)