6 drones deployed on Hyderabad bypoll duty downed with kites

HYDERABAD: Six predetermination surveillance drones - deployed for the archetypal clip successful India to way irregularities - were brought down by unidentified miscreants utilizing kites during Tuesday's bypoll successful Hyderabad's Jubilee Hills.

What was meant to beryllium a technological leap successful predetermination monitoring turned into an airborne play that near officials some startled and scrambling. A full of 139 licensed drone pilots from Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu were connected predetermination duty. But the cognition took a chaotic crook erstwhile an organised kite-flying maneuver was reportedly utilized to onslaught the drones successful 4 localities - 2 each successful Rahmatnagar and Karmika Nagar, and 1 each successful Madhuranagar and Shaikpet.

Each drone, worthy astir Rs 2.5 lakh, was disabled mid-flight, prompting swift constabulary effect to the sites. Each pilot, paid an honorarium of Rs 12,000, was liable for surveillance wrong a 3km radius astir polling stations. Equipped with 3 batteries and susceptible of 3 hours of continuous flight, the drones were linked to a cardinal bid centre astatine GHMC headquarters, wherever unrecorded feeds poured successful passim the day.

"Aside from a fewer disruptions, we managed to proceed our aerial coverage," said a pilot. Inside the power room, officials monitored implicit 1,000 hours of video footage relayed by drones, issuing real-time instructions to tract operators. But challenges didn't extremity with kites. On 2 occasions, unidentified persons allegedly tried to snatch drones from pilots and adjacent intimidated operators, sources said. The footage volition acquisition elaborate investigation to place immoderate violations and those down the sabotage. Several women drone pilots had applied for deployment, but bulk of the assignments were yet fixed to antheral pilots. As investigators portion unneurotic what brought the drones down, the occurrence has earned the bypoll a spot successful predetermination history.