Thrissur police use drones to patrol coronavirus lockdown

The Thrissur city police are using drones to track down those who are violating lockdown guidelines. Police registered as many as 19 cases after violators were identified using drones.

Thrissur (Kerala): Taking cues from California and Spanish police, the Kerala police have deployed drones to ensure stringent patrolling during the lockdown designed to contain the spread of coronavirus. The drones are being used by Thrissur city police to monitor, identify and track down those who violate the lockdown guidelines and venture out unnecessarily.

The city police has begun drone surveillance collaborating with the Association for Drone Users in Thrissur. On an experimental basis, the police operated drones from the southern tower gate of Thekkinkadu Maidanam in Thrissur City. As many as 19 cases were registered against lockdown violators after they were tracked down using drones.

"We have decided to use drones more efficiently to ensure that the lockdown norms are followed by all," said Thrissur District Police Chief Aadhithya R.

"All the major roads in the district will be monitored using the drones. Besides monitoring vehicular traffic, drones can spot those venturing out unnecessarily, gathering and standing here and there and more than two people travelling together," said the officer.

All police stations in the Thrissur city limits are also carrying out mobile patrolling round the clock. Those who went out to hospitals and for other emergencies were checked and were let go after verifying their papers. The police inspected 2,886 vehicles as part of the lockdown surveillance the previous day.