Drone over Jagannath temple in Odisha's Puri raises security concerns, probe on

An investigation was started after a drone was spotted over the revered Jagannath temple in Puri in the early hours of Sunday, police said.

The drone was spotted over the temple around 4:10 am and it kept hovering for nearly half an hour, raising security concerns as the area is a no-flying zone.

Different teams have been formed to investigate the incident, a police officer said.

Expressing concern, Law Minister Prithviraj Harichandan said, "Flying a drone over the temple is illegal and not acceptable. Strong legal action would be taken against the person who breached the security."

"The Puri SP has formed teams and started an investigation into the incident. I hope that the person concerned will be identified and the drone will be seized," he added.

Harichandan said to ensure that such an incident does not happen in the future, the government is planning to deploy police personnel round the clock at the four watchtowers around the temple complex.

"It was suspected that some vlogger may have flown the drone above the temple. However, ill intention behind it cannot be ruled out," he said.