No paragliding training without permission in Goa district

The district magistrate of North Goa on Saturday passed an order making state and central permissions mandatory for paragliding training in view of aerial terror threats.

A statement issued by the state's information and publicity department said this was done "in view of the prevailing situation in the country and intelligence inputs on terror threats to India".

It said that if permission was not taken, "such training could even be linked with terrorist outfits and other anti social elements".

The order comes three weeks after it was revealed that Syed Ashfaque, an alleged Indian Mujahideen operative arrested by Bengaluru police in connection with a terror plot earlier this year, had undertaken a five-day paragliding course in North Goa's Arambol village, 40 km from Panaji.

Ashfaque during his interrogation revealed to Bengaluru police that he had undertaken the training course in November 2013.

Following Saturday's order, running a paragliding school will now need 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, the Air Traffic Controller, Dabolim.

The order says that local police should also be informed about the name and address of the paragliding trainer and the trainees, and the complete training schedule.