CHANDIGARH: DRONES were reportedly sighted late Monday evening over Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur in Punjab, and a surveillance drone was brought down in Jalandhar.
A blackout was enforced tonight in Amritsar, Hoshiarpur and parts of Jalandhar districts. The Amritsar International Airport has been temporarily closed for civil operations. It reopened this morning. An Amritsar-bound flight from Delhi was asked to turn back.
Sources claimed a drone sighting near Sura Nussa in Jalandhar, near the Indian army’s ammunition depot. Another sighting was reported in Unchi Bassi, between Mukerian and Dasuya in Hoshiarpur district, on the Jammu national highway.
Electricity was immediately switched off in some parts of Jalandhar city, Dasuya, and Mukerian. An air-raid siren was sounded in the border city of Amritsar, followed by a blackout.
An IndiGo Delhi-Amritsar flight that was on its way to the holy city from the national capital returned to Delhi. A few other commercial flights were rerouted to avoid overflying that area. The IndiGo flight, which had taken off from Delhi at 8.26 pm, landed back in Delhi around 9.15 pm. Sources said the Amritsar airport has reportedly been closed until further notice.
Jalandhar DC Himanshu Aggarwal wrote on X, “I have been informed that the Armed forces brought down one surveillance drone at around 9:20 pm near village Mand. ”
Meanwhile, Hoshiarpur Deputy Commissioner Aashika Jain said, “We got information around 8:30 pm that some objects were spotted in the sky, and this information is still under verification. What kind of objects were those? The armed forces are engaging with them. The blackout is in force until further orders.” Amritsar DC Sakshi Sawhney, asked the people to switch off lights and move away from the windows.