The Goa Police has deployed an advanced aerial surveillance solution to ensure the safety of tourists.
“We are determined to use this solution to monitor all large tourist gatherings. It can be used for search-and-rescue operations and other criminal investigations,” said Karthik Kashyap, Superintendent of Police, chief of Crime Branch on Wednesday.
In a first, round-the-clock aerial surveillance was used to monitor the Timeout 72 Music Festival and New Year’s Eve celebrations, Mr. Kashyap said.
Over two lakh tourists had converged on Vagator, Baga, Candolim and Cangute beaches at the time. The police had deployed drones with the latest zoom-capable cameras. At night, thermal-sensing cameras were used to monitor beaches and unlit areas.
Leading the way
Mr. Kashyap said this was the first time such an aerial surveillance solution was used on this scale by any police department in the country. “The primary objective was to monitor any unusual gatherings, fights and/or suspicious activities,” he said.
Th surveillance solution has been provided by Bangalore-based startup IIO Technologies Pvt. Ltd., under supervision of its founder-CEO Sunny Sharma in association with DJI.
The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of the Goa Police, under the guidance of Mr. Kashyap and SP Arvind Gawas, was trained to use the cutting-edge technology.
