CHITRADURGA: A Tapas unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) crashed in agriculture fields near a village in Karnataka's Chitradurga on Sunday morning, officials said.

According to officials, the UAV–TAPAS– crashed while it was on a trial flight. "A Tapas drone being developed by the DRDO crashed during a trial flight in a village of Chitradurga district, Karnataka," Defence officials said.

"DRDO is briefing the Defence Ministry about the mishap and an inquiry is being carried out into the specific reasons behind the crash," they said.

As the word spread, local villagers rushed to the crash site to catch a glimpse of the UAV. Visuals show that the damaged UAV and its equipment inside lay scattered on the field. Tactical Airborne Platform for Aerial Surveillance-Beyond Horizon-201 or Tapas BH-201 is a long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle that used to be previously referred to as Rustom-II.