RAWALPINDI: To help them in investigating instances of aerial firing and kite flying, the police will be using drone aerial cameras after the Punjab government imposed a ban on kite flying.

Though the drones had been given to the Rawalpindi police in July of last year to monitor protests and for keeping an eye on possible hideouts used by criminals, a drone camera was only used once on Ashura last year.

The police said drones can be useful in looking for people who sell kites or for strings in the city’s downtown areas. The drone cameras will be able to film and take photos of those violating the ban on aerial firing and will help the police in deciding how to proceed against violators.

Some 50 drone cameras were given to the Punjab police, one that weighs about 1.200 grams was given to the Rawalpindi district police and one to the City Traffic police (CTP) last year.

However, CTP has not yet used its drone camera to collect evidence on traffic violations and accidents.

Easy to fly, the cameras that can record film and take photos are operated by police personnel from a laptop or a mobile device. The camera can be tilted up and down, can be monitored live and can fly for 25 minutes at a time.

Plain clothes police personnel have also been deployed to identify those involved in selling kites, especially in the downtown areas where kite flying is more popular.

The Punjab government has directed police across the province to implement the ban on kite flying and to arrest those found violating the ban.

Published in Dawn, February 25th, 2016