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A drone was spotted hovering near Matoshree, the Bandra (East) residence of Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray, on Sunday afternoon, sparking a political row, with the party’s leaders questioning its intent and the authorities’ explanation.
Aaditya Thackeray, an MLA and former environment minister, wrote on X claiming that the drone was seen “peeping into” the residence before flying away when noticed.
Thackeray said that when the media enquired, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) said it was conducting a survey of the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) with the permission of the Mumbai Police.
“A drone was caught peeping into our residence this morning… The MMRDA says it was a survey for BKC with police permission. Okay. What survey allows you to peep inside homes and fly out quickly when spotted?” Aaditya posted.
“Why weren’t residents informed? Is MMRDA only surveying our house for BKC?” he asked, adding that the agency should “focus on its corruption-ridden projects like the MTHL (Atal Setu)” instead of “surveillance”.
Sena (UBT) MLC Anil Parab also raised the matter. “A drone was seen hovering near Matoshree, the residence of our party chief, Uddhav Thackeray. The question is.. whose drone was it, and for what purpose?” he said in a statement on Sunday.
“Why was filming done without informing anyone? Could there be any extremist background or conspiracy behind it? Conducting such drone activity in a Z+ security zone is extremely serious,” he added, urging the administration to “investigate the drone’s intent, responsible individuals and background to clear the doubts in the minds of Shiv Sainiks and citizens”.
While there was no official comment from the MMRDA by Sunday afternoon, sources in the authority said that drones were being used for topographical mapping and infrastructure assessment in the BKC region as part of a larger urban planning exercise.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (zone VIII) Manish Kalwaniya said,“A drone survey with permission from the MMRDA is going on in BKC and the Kherwadi area. Please avoid any misinformation.”
Officials, however, did not clarify whether specific permission had been obtained to operate near restricted residential zones or whether residents were informed in advance.
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