To put a tab and capture rogue drones, the Telangana Police’s Gaduda squad have added more number of raptors like eagles, kites and falcons, who are being trained at the Integrated Intelligence Training Academy (IITA) in Moinabad, reported Telangana Today on Tuesday.
The new Gaduda Squad use raptors for anti-drone security measures and surveillance purpose. For training purposes, the Telangana Police even hired experts who trained two eagles, a kite and two falcons in anti-drone operation and surveillance.
Why this sudden inclusion?
The Telangana Police thought of the need for Gaduda squad and the inclusion of raptors like eagles, kites and falcons citing the rise of threats of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) during VVIP and VIP visits to various programmes in the state.
With this inclusion of raptors in the Gaduda squad, Telangana has become the first state in the country and second in the world after Netherlands, which deployed raptors for security purposes.
More raptors to be trained:
Meanwhile, IITA officials are training few more raptors at the academy after successfully training five birds in the anti-drone and surveillance duties.
“A few more chicks were brought and are being trained for various duties. The already trained birds are deployed wherever necessary but so far they did not engaged in any counter-drone exercise during any programme,” Telangana Today quoted an official as saying.
The Telangana Police officials maintained that enough precautions are taken to prevent any injury to the birds during the training and deployment, said the report.
“We tie a net to the legs of the birds. When it reaches a drone, the net traps the wings of the drone and carries the drone away to a secluded place to neutralise it,” the officials said, adding a small camera is connected to a laptop and is used for surveillance purposes.
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