Hyderabad: With new threats emerging for security agencies across the country in the form of rogue drones, the Bureau of Police Research & Development (BPR&D) is now in talks with the police of many states in the country, including Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, for imparting training to police officers in tracking and mitigating rogue drones and also understanding anti-drone detection technologies among other aspects.
Union home minister Amit Shah recently constituted a committee under the BPR&D to study and analyse the threats from drones. In this backdrop, the BPR&D, which functions under the ministry of home affairs, held a demonstration of anti-drone technology at the BSF campus in Haryana on Friday, in which police officers from various states and paramilitary forces participated.
Rogue drones have emerged as a major challenge for the security forces, especially after two major Saudi Arabia oil installations were recently hit by drone strikes which knocked out the country’s total oil production, and the recent seizure of a huge cache of arms in Punjab, which included AK-47 rifles, pistols, hand grenades and satellite phones suspected to have been delivered by drones from across the border in Pakistan.
“We are interacting with various states over training needs for detecting, tracking and mitigation of rogue drones. It is taking shape,” BPR&D director general V.S.K. Kaumudi told this newspaper.
The objective of training is to ensure that police officers of all states and the central armed para-military forces and other central police organisations have a complete understanding of the best comprehensive and compatible solution to control rogue drones.
As part of the training, the men will be initially taught anti-drone detection, identification, tracking and mitigation of rogue drones. Most importantly, they will be trained in handling anti-drone equipment on the borders, airports and at other critical infrastructure across the country. At the moment, even the airports have no mechanism in place to deal with drone threats, something which has become a matter of grave concern.
A field demonstration was given to nearly 100 police officers on Friday at the Border Security Force (BSF) campus at Bhondsi in Haryana. About eight private firms presented various types of anti-drone technologies.
