Mumbai Police goes hi-tech for MNS rally

MNS chief Raj Thackeray's rallymay have swelled on the streets of Mumbai marking protests in a huge manner but it also etched a feather in the cap of the Mumbai Police. While there were 15,000 cops on their toes, for the first time an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) kept a close watch on the gathering at Azad Maidan.

Real-time reports

The equipment is of the type used by US forces to track the Taliban. The real-time images relayed by UAV were monitored by the manufacturer's technicians and police officials at a control room in the BMC headquarters.

The Mumbai Police decided to invest in the UAV to combat situations like 26/11 and after the latest unrest that took place at Azad Maidan on August 11. The UAV named Netra has been designed in cooperation with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The UAV has a range of 2 km and can fly for 30 mins and requires a battery re-charge. Each unit costs approximately Rs15-20 lakh.

With the Mumbai Police having pressed the hi-tech button, it surely seems to have added a feather in its cap.