Panic in UP’s Barabanki: Villagers confuse planes for drones, flood helplines

The District Police issued an advisory to residents, warning of strict action against those spreading rumors.

Written by Maulshree Seth

Lucknow | Updated: September 20, 2025 02:02 AM IST

2 min read

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Later, the information spread in neighbouring areas as well as on social media, leading to panic among locals.

For the past two weeks, emergency helpline numbers in Uttar Pradesh’s Barabanki have been flooded with panicked late-night calls from several villages in the district — reporting that they spotted drones.

The Barabanki district police have now issued an advisory, stating that an initial inquiry found regular flight movements during this period and urged the public not to confuse them with drones.

Sources said it had started a fortnight ago with social media posts on drone sightings in the area. Calls then started coming in on 112 — the emergency services number — from Marakhapur village under the Dariyabad Police station area.

Later, the information spread in neighbouring areas as well as on social media, leading to panic among locals.

Officials said that over the past 15 days, calls reporting drone sightings had increased. An inquiry revealed that these calls coincided with regular flight movements over the district between 8 pm and 11 pm.

At midnight on Friday, Barabanki Police issued a public appeal: “It is an appeal to common citizens not to spread false information and avoid making the mistake of considering regular flight movement over the district as drones.”

The advisory pointed out, “It has been seen in the recent past that calls are being made on emergency services numbers about sightings of drones. It has come out in the investigation that this information is false and misleading. There is usually movement of regular flights from 8 pm to 11 pm, which are considered as drones by the villages.”

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Asking villages not to spread misleading information and to report suspicious activity directly to them, the police also warned of strict action against those spreading rumors.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Vikas Chandra Tripathi, Additional SP, North, Barabanki, informed, “Recently, several calls to emergency services were coming in about drone sightings from villages; there were reports of this on social media as well. After investigation, it came out that villages were confusing regular flight movements with drones, and rumors regarding this were spreading it further. Thus, we decided to issue an advisory.”

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