Kolkata Police, as well as the Ministry of Defence, have launched a probe into reports of drone-like objects spotted hovering over the Kolkata sky two days ago.

On Monday night, at least 8-10 such objects were found flying over the Hastings area, the Vidyasagar Setu, and the Maidan, prompting a high alert across all police stations in the city.

“Reports of drone sightings over Kolkata have been received and are currently under investigation. Efforts are underway to ascertain the veracity of this event. Further information will be shared as facts are established,” Wg Cdr Himanshu Tiwari (CPRO, Ministry of Defence, Kolkata) said on Wednesday.

“In the interim, the media is urged to refrain from speculation,” the Defence official said.

Quoting an unnamed police officer, PTI said “drone-like objects” were seen flying from the direction of Maheshtala in South 24 Parganas district late on Monday.

“They hovered over the Hastings area, the Second Hooghly Bridge (Vidyasagar Setu) and Fort William (the army’s Eastern Command headquarters)… Such flying objects were also seen over the Park Circus area in the eastern part of the metropolis before disappearing,” the police officer said.

“We are probing the matter from all angles, including the possibility of espionage,” the officer added.

This incident follows the May 11 incident in Murshidabad, where a drone was found, triggering panic in the area.

That drone was later identified as one commonly used by photographers for event coverage, with a range of 400-500 meters, a flying time of 15-20 minutes depending on the battery, an inbuilt 4K camera, and no load-carrying capacity.

Drones are widely utilized in various sectors, including event videography and surveillance by police and administrative bodies. This investigation is being done to determine the type of drone observed in the port area of Kolkata.

(With inputs from PTI)