JKP to order 50 UAVs this month, procurement likely by 2019-end

JAMMU: One-and-a half-year after the proposal was first mooted in this regard, the Jammu and Kashmir Police is set to make an order for 50 latest unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in two weeks from now, to help the force in security, surveillance and detection operations in the to-be union territory as the government braces for militants activities and other possible small incidents in the days to come.

Boasting of night vision equipment, these UAVs will be of immense help in security drills including anti-terror operations, particularly in Kashmir Valley, in view of increasing militancy-related incidents, as proved in the past by the UAVs belonging to Army.

Protests and stone-pelting in Valley by mobs is also likely to be contained and controlled by these UAVs for which the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has already given its approval, and sanctioned the requisite funds as well.

The proposal for UAVs for J&K police was first mooted in March 2018.

“After getting approval from MHA, tenders have been floated by the procurement wing of J&K police.

The tender will open on October 20 and we will place the order to the successful bidder by the end of this month,” a senior police officer in PHQ informed this scribe.

“The purchase process will be completed before the year-end as funds have already been approved,” he added.

The UAVs will be of category 3, the latest and equipped with the sophisticated technology.

“We will acquire three types of UAVs which include short, medium and large range. The UAVs so acquire will be deployed to different districts in J&K to make the force more tech savvy, especially in Kashmir where encounters with militants take frequently,” police sources informed The News Now.

Drones and UAVs are not new to Kashmir. The Indian Army has put to service its UAVs for past couple of years in Valley and along the Line of Control in Jammu region as well to track the militant movements in forest areas.

The usage of these UAVs in a number of encounters in the hinterland has also been reported in past. However, Jammu and Kashmir Police, which stands shoulders with Army in Counter-Insurgency Operations in Valley, did not have its own UAVs and used to take help from Army.

“The bulk procurement would equip the force to tackle anti-militancy operations and also protestors in a better way. After the restrictions were imposed in Valley on August 5, forces have used small UAVs and helicopters to keep an eye on the situation and to detect people converging for protests.

“Once procured, a batch of police officials will be trained to operate them and this way we could be independent of Army’s assistance”, a senior police officer informed.