Permission made mandatory for paragliding schools in Goa

NewsGram Staff Writer

Panaji: In view of aerial terror challenges and intelligence inputs on militancy threats to India, the district magistrate of North Goa on Saturday passed an order making state and central permissions mandatory for paragliding training.

The order noted that such training could be linked with terrorist outfits and other anti-social elements.

The order comes following the revelation that Syed Ashfaque, an alleged Indian Mujahideen operative, undertook a five-day paragliding course in North Goa's Arambol village, 40-km from Panaji. Ashfaque was arrested by Bengaluru police in connection with a terror plot earlier this year. He revealed during his interrogation that he enrolled for the training course in November 2013.

Saturday's order made it mandatory for paragliding school to get permissions from a host of government departments including the director of tourism, Panaji, sub-divisional magistrate of the area, the Director General of Civil Aviation and the Air Traffic Controller, Dabolim.

The order says that local police should also be apprised of the name and address of the paragliding trainer and the trainees along with the complete training schedule.

(With inputs from IANS)