Mysterious drone appears near Mamata Banerjee’s helicopter, three detained

KOLKATA/MALDA: A mysterious drone appeared in front of Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s helicopter in Malda on Saturday as she was heading to Gazo after a rally in Maratipur. The police have detained three people in this regard.Although the detainees claimed they had come to attend Banerjee’s rally and wanted to capture her boarding the helicopter, the police were not taking any chances.The drone was spotted by the Chief Minister himself. As she boarded the plane, she paused on the stairs of the helicopter and looked at the sky for a moment. “If the drone hits the helicopter while it’s trying to fly, the helicopter will crash. Police have to find out who did it,” she said.When helicopters are flying, air traffic control has the responsibility to keep the surrounding airspace clear. Sources at the Airports Authority of India said permission to operate the drone has not yet been obtained.Pilot Shubhagata Jowardar said it was impossible to predict the danger in such a situation. An official said: “This is an unauthorized drone. Although the Malda airport is not operating normally, as long as there is CM activity, it will be strictly restricted.”