As drones fall from sky, Punjab authorities advise curious residents: ‘Don't touch, no matter what'

Indian Express

10-05-2025

After multiple drone sightings and explosions were reported across Punjab's border districts Friday night, authorities have cautioned people against touching objects falling from the skies, no matter how big or small they are.
This was after the authorities noticed several incidents of people, mostly in villages, gathering around these drones/missile-like objects and touching them out of curiosity. The residents should immediately inform the police or call the district helpline number instead of touching the objects, as they might explode, said officials.
Remnants of drones have been discovered not only in border districts like Ferozepur and Amritsar, but also in central districts of Punjab such as Jalandhar, Bathinda, and Hoshiarpur. This comes as Pakistan continues to target border states in northwestern India in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor, in which Indian armed forces hit terror sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (Pok) after midnight on May 6.
India Saturday said Pakistan's military attempted air intrusions at more than 26 locations from Srinagar to Nalia, which the Indian military was able to 'neutralise'.
In an advisory issued by the district administration in Pathankot, a border district where loud explosions are heard at regular intervals, Deputy Commissioner Aditya Uppal noted that it has been observed that people not only touch suspicious objects but some also attempt to carry them away, physically explore them, or even take them to their homes.
'We strictly advise people not to touch it at any cost, as it has the potential to explode. Strict legal action will be taken against any such individual,' said the deputy commissioner.
'They should maintain a safe distance from that object. We know that it invokes curiosity among the people, but it is only for their own safety that they should not try to remove or carry it here and there on their own. Let police or army teams handle it. People should only inform police or administration as responsible citizens,' said Uppal.
In one such video from Punjab's Jalandhar, people were seen exploring and touching the internal parts of a suspected missile. In an advisory, Jalandhar Deputy Commissioner Himanshu Aggarwal said: 'If a drone crashes near you, do not go near it. Immediately inform your nearest police station about the drone crash. In addition, you can also inform the police control room at 112 or the district administration's control room at 0181-2224417.'
The Punjab Police helpline number for reporting such incidents statewide is 112.
On people clicking photos and videos of the drones/debris, a senior Punjab Police officer said: 'Though it is not advisable, but still we cannot stop people from clicking photos or recording videos as they grow curious and want to record the incident. However, the most important instruction they must follow is not to touch that object/debris at any cost. It holds the potential to explode anytime. Just stay away from it and inform the police.'
At least three people from one family suffered serious injuries after a drone-like object fell on a house in Khai Feme ke village of the border district Ferozepur late Friday night. According to a Punjab Police officer, at least four big craters have also been found in the fields in different districts, which are being probed.
Divya Goyal is a Principal Correspondent with The Indian Express, based in Punjab.
Her interest lies in exploring both news and feature stories, with an effort to reflect human interest at the heart of each piece. She writes on gender issues, education, politics, Sikh diaspora, heritage, the Partition among other subjects. She has also extensively covered issues of minority communities in Pakistan and Afghanistan. She also explores the legacy of India's partition and distinct stories from both West and East Punjab.
She is a gold medalist from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), Delhi, the most revered government institute for media studies in India, from where she pursued English Journalism (Print). Her research work on 'Role of micro-blogging platform Twitter in content generation in newspapers' had won accolades at IIMC.
She had started her career in print journalism with Hindustan Times before switching to The Indian Express in 2012.
Her investigative report in 2019 on gender disparity while treating women drug addicts in Punjab won her the Laadli Media Award for Gender Sensitivity in 2020. She won another Laadli for her ground report on the struggle of two girls who ride a boat to reach their school in the border village of Punjab.
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