Police in India buy drones for crowd surveillance
The Odisha Police, in the Bhubaneswar region of India, are using drones to help monitor traffic movements and large crowds in public gatherings. The drones are autonomous, using GPS technology to provide accurate surveillance and were implemented after chief police officers saw a demonstration of the technology by local entrepreneurs in the area. The drones can cover a radius of 2.5km and fly up to 800m high over 20 minutes.

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Police may soon start using drones or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) to keep a watch on traffic movements and crowd during large gatherings from the sky. These auto-pilot drones loaded with global positioning system (GPS) and powerful camera can provide real-time pictures for better surveillance, official sources said."We have been using drones in Maoist-affected areas for aerial surveillance. We have decided to buy six drones to be used for crowd management, especially during large gatherings," said director general of police, K B Singh.Senior officers at the police commissionerate in Bhubaneswar recently saw demonstration of drones made by local entrepreneurs and expressed satisfaction."The UAVs can go to places difficult for humans to reach. They can fly over high buildings, trees, large crowd, accident-prone areas and disaster sites. The drones we have demonstrated runs on auto-pilot and can be operated through laptops and smartphones. They can cover a radius of 2.5 km and go up to 800 metres high. They can fly for 20 minutes at a stretch and send live images of target areas from high-definition cameras," said Abhinash Sahu, co-founder of Firewings, a city-based startup that develops drones."The price of a drone starts from Rs 40,000. They are widely used for traffic surveillance and crime investigation by police departments of various states in India," said Sahu.The team has recently received Rs 1 lakh as part of the Youth Innovation Award from the chief minister Naveen Patnaik.