Bengaluru, 9 Feb

A humongous balloon used for advertisement purpose was flown unauthorised inside the restricted operational area of Kempegowda International Airport (KIA), which was a serious breach of aviation safety norms and raised security concerns, police said on Monday.

The incident took place on 5 January, but the complaint was lodged only on 8 February by L Nagendran from the Aviation Security Group (ASG) of the Central IndustrialSecurity Force (CISF), police said.

A balloon bearing the name “BCD Construction” was found flying unauthorisedly in the operational area of KIA in the City, Nagendran stated in the complaint.

Upon noticing this, “the ASG/BDDS personnel immediately intercepted and checked it. It was found that the balloon was present in the Red Zone/No Flying Area of KIA (as per DGCA guidelines)”.

The FIR said that the act amounted to a violation of DGCA guidelines within the prohibited area of the airport. Police said a case has been registered and further investigation is under way.