Ganpati immersions: Mumbai cops' anti-drone system makes debut

Mumbai police for the first time used an 'anti-drone system' during the Ganpati immersions on Thursday-Friday, a senior official said.

The system can immobilise drones operating in a particular frequency, leading to the flying object coming down, he explained.

"The anti drone system was used for the first time during Ganpati immersion processions on Thursday and Friday morning. It was deployed at Girgaum Chowpatty and some other places. The aim is to check the flight of unauthorised drones by private individuals," the official said.

The mechanism has been obtained from a Singapore-based firm, he informed.

He said the anti-drone system was tested a few days before the immersions, with police commissioner Sanjay Barve and other senior officials of the metropolis in attendance.

The official added that police used six drones to keep a hawk eye on the Ganpati immersions, which provided high quality live aerial feed to personnel monitoring the event in the police control room.

He further said that the police would be installing 5,000 new CCTV cameras, which would take the total number of such cameras in the city to 11,000 by next year.

The vast CCTV network has been a game-changer in curbing crimes like chain-snatching and pick-pocketing, he claimed.