'Drone Prathap' held for violating quarantine rules

Days after the so-called ‘drone boy’ Prathap NM’s fake claims of building 600 drones from e-waste and receiving numerous awards were exposed, he has landed in fresh trouble as he got arrested on Monday. On Sunday, Karnataka police lodged an FIR against him for violating quarantine rules to appear in a TV interview to respond to allegations against him, and also for going missing when police and health workers went looking for him.

Mysuru (Karnataka):Days after the so-called ‘drone boy’ Prathap NM’s fake claims of developing hundreds of drones by electronic wastes and receiving numerous awards from across the globe were exposed, he was arrested in Mysuru for violating quarantine rules on Monday.

On Sunday, Karnataka police had registered a complaint against him for breaching quarantine rules to appear in a televised interview with a local news channel to respond to allegations against him.

The 23-year-old, who dubs himself as 'young scientist' had returned to Bengaluru from Hyderabad, a day before appearing in a live program of Kannada news channel on July 16, in which he even showed his home quarantine stamp.

The local police swung into action as soon as, Bengaluru Bruhat Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) filed a case against Prathap for breaching quarantine rules. The act was not taken lightly by the state government too.

Given the rising cases of coronavirus in Hyderabad, his appearance at the programme has landed him into a huge controversy because if he is found to be COVID-19 positive, everybody who came in close contact with him in the TV studio and elsewhere will be in risk. It is also being reported that he had come into contact with coronavirus positive person.

As per reports, after the telecast of the show when police officials and quarantine squad members reached his home in the city to inquire about the violation he was found missing. Moreover, his phone was also found switched off.

Who is 'Drone Prathap'?

The young child of a farmer from Karnataka's Mandya district rose to fame with his claim of having made 600 drones from e-waste at the age of 22 and won several awards from across the globe. However, the 'young scientist' is yet to provide proof to back up his claims.

While reports surrounding his achievements have been making rounds on the internet, he became viral on social media after reports started to surface that he’s been elected by PM Modi to be a part of DRDO. However, Alt News in a recent article had debunked rumour claiming the same.

Following this, doubts were raised on social media by people claiming his long list of achievements to be fake.

To bust all the claims, he appeared in an interview with Btv News Kannada to issue clarifications and furnish proofs. He reportedly showed some photographs to viewers where he is posing with a drone and presented several certificates as proofs of international awards he has claimed to have won in the past. However, he refused to answer basic questions about aerodynamics on the show.

In fact, after reaching the pinnacle of fame at a young age, the boy’s credibility took a turn for the worse after a Germany-based company BillzEye issued a statement on his company’s website that the drone flashed by Prathap actually belongs to them.

Multiple claims by India's drone boy are being examined, to ascertain the truth behind it.