Kerala Police seek no-fly zone for helicopters over Padmanabhaswamy Temple

In view of security concerns over the priceless treasures of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram, the city police have proposed to declare the sky above the temple as a no-flying zone for helicopters.

The move came in the wake of a recent row over a private helicopter of a known businessman circling above the temple.

The temple region has already been declared a high-security zone and the use of drones near the temple has been banned. But since the airport is close to the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport there are practical difficulties in declaring the region as a no-fly zone. Hence the police mooted restrictions for helicopters.

Police sources said that the proposal given by the City Police Commissioner H Nagaraju needs to be taken up with central agencies like the Director General of Civil Aviation.

The temple, which was under the erstwhile Travancore Royal family, has valuables like ornaments and precious stones estimated to be worth around Rs 1 lakh crore kept in chambers. It came to light in 2011 and since then the temple is under tight security cover.

BJP leader and former Mizoram Governor Kummanam Rajasekharan recently sought a probe into the private helicopter circling around the temple.

Police sources said that there was nothing suspicious in the incident. The helicopter had to circle around while waiting for landing permission.