Express News Service
CHANDIGARH: For the first time in the country, the Punjab Police has readied the Drone Emergency Response System (DERS) in 108 villages of four districts on the Indo-Pak border. Whenever a drone is spotted, a village-level defence committee (VLDC) will get activated and cordon the area so that drug or weapon consignment being dropped can be seized by village police officers (VPOs) appointed in each of 108 villages.
The VPOs will work in tandem with the VLDC. They will maintain a beat book in which hotspots and other details will be noted. Deputy Inspector General of Police (border range) Narender Bhargav said the police have identified the four districts along the border where such a system will work. These are Amritsar (rural), Batala, Gurdaspur and Pathankot.
Each VLDC will have 20 members. A village police officer (VPO), preferably a policeman who belongs to that village, has been appointed in each village. “This officer has been given month-long training to develop contacts with the villagers so that he and the committee can work in tandem,’’ said Bhargav.
“Once a drone is spotted or its noise is heard, the committee members and the VPOs will cordon the village so that no smuggler can collect the dropped drug or weapon consignment. The local police will be informed for the swift follow-up action. The incidents will be reported to the Station House Officer and deputy superintendents of police of the area. Besides WhatsApp groups of VLDCs have been made in which the VPOs have been added. As soon as a drone is spotted, an alert will be sent to the group and the area sealed. An outsider in the area will be rounded up soon,’’ said Bhargav.
Sources said beat books containing information about all sensitive areas, contact numbers of prominent persons of border villages, police and Border Security Force (BSF) officers concerned, have been distributed. This system has been introduced after a meeting between Punjab Police and BSF officers. According to official data, the drone sightings along the 2,289 km long India-Pakistan border running along Jammu, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat have increased from 77 sightings in 2020 to 104 in 2021.
CHANDIGARH: For the first time in the country, the Punjab Police has readied the Drone Emergency Response System (DERS) in 108 villages of four districts on the Indo-Pak border. Whenever a drone is spotted, a village-level defence committee (VLDC) will get activated and cordon the area so that drug or weapon consignment being dropped can be seized by village police officers (VPOs) appointed in each of 108 villages.
The VPOs will work in tandem with the VLDC. They will maintain a beat book in which hotspots and other details will be noted. Deputy Inspector General of Police (border range) Narender Bhargav said the police have identified the four districts along the border where such a system will work. These are Amritsar (rural), Batala, Gurdaspur and Pathankot.
Each VLDC will have 20 members. A village police officer (VPO), preferably a policeman who belongs to that village, has been appointed in each village. “This officer has been given month-long training to develop contacts with the villagers so that he and the committee can work in tandem,’’ said Bhargav.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
“Once a drone is spotted or its noise is heard, the committee members and the VPOs will cordon the village so that no smuggler can collect the dropped drug or weapon consignment. The local police will be informed for the swift follow-up action. The incidents will be reported to the Station House Officer and deputy superintendents of police of the area. Besides WhatsApp groups of VLDCs have been made in which the VPOs have been added. As soon as a drone is spotted, an alert will be sent to the group and the area sealed. An outsider in the area will be rounded up soon,’’ said Bhargav.
Sources said beat books containing information about all sensitive areas, contact numbers of prominent persons of border villages, police and Border Security Force (BSF) officers concerned, have been distributed. This system has been introduced after a meeting between Punjab Police and BSF officers. According to official data, the drone sightings along the 2,289 km long India-Pakistan border running along Jammu, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat have increased from 77 sightings in 2020 to 104 in 2021.
