Drones Spotted over Civilian Zones, not Military Base at Fort William, says Indian Army

BI News, Kolkata, May 23 — The Indian Army has clarified that drone-like objects sighted in the skies over Kolkata on Monday night did not fly over Fort William’s military installations, now referred to as Vijay Durg, but were restricted to civilian areas.

Officials from the Eastern Command stated on Wednesday that the aerial objects, seen around 10:30 PM, were all observed in non-military zones near the Maidan area. “The drones that are being talked about were all spotted in the civilian areas of Maidan and none over the military installations,” a senior officer confirmed on Thursday.

Both the Kolkata Police and the Army’s Eastern Command have launched investigations into the incident, which caused a brief stir in central Kolkata. Witnesses reported seeing multiple drone-like objects flying past prominent landmarks including Vidyasagar Setu, Hastings, Rabindra Sadan, Victoria Memorial, Fort William, and towards The 42, the city's tallest building on Chowringhee Road.

According to sources, preliminary reports suggest the objects might have entered the city airspace from Maheshtala and Behala, located on Kolkata’s southern outskirts. Eyewitnesses said the objects hovered in the sky for nearly 20 minutes and were visible from areas falling under the jurisdictions of the Maidan, Shakespeare Sarani, and Hastings police stations.

An alert has been issued across all divisions of Kolkata Police as authorities continue to monitor the situation. Meanwhile, army sources emphasized their preparedness to handle any unauthorized drone activity over their headquarters, including deploying short-range air defense systems if necessary.

Photo: Created with AI