UAV to track Maoists from February: DGP

The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that was inducted by AP police to track down Maoists even in deep forests, will begin its operations from February next year, said director-general of police, V. Dinesh Reddy.

The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that was inducted by AP police to track down Maoists even in deep forests, will begin its operations from February next year, said director-general of police, V. Dinesh Reddy.

Talking to reporters here on Thursday, the DGP said that the UAV which will have its base station at Madhurapudi in Rajahmumdry, would boost anti-Naxalite operations in the state. It will carry two payloads, one which takes images and sends them to the control centre. Night vision cameras can take pictures even at an angle of 360 degrees.

The UAV can fly for eight hours at a stretch and will be used to scan the four districts of Telangana, the Dandakar-anya forest region, East Godavari, Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram, Srikakul-am, and also parts of Chhattisgarh, south and central Orissa on the Andh-ra-Orissa border (AOB) area. The other payload carried by the craft will be able to detect voice signals transmitted through VHF and UHF sets and send these message to the control station,” the DGP

said. The helicopter sanctioned by the Centre, which can carry 17 persons at a time will commence its operations during this month, added the DGP. “The helicopter will be used for easy transportation of our troops in dense forests with difficult terrain, “ he said.

Taking a dig at Orissa police, the DGP said, “Surveillance on the other side of the AOB is weak when compared to the border on north Telangana where it is well manned,” he added.