Drones help cops take on bootleggers

The Vasai police is taking the help of drone cameras to nab the owners of country liquor furnaces by tracing their factories. The use of the cameras had begun on New Year’s eve, and since then officials have recovered at least 200 litres of country liquor. Though the police has also registered cases against some offenders, the workers and owners of these furnaces have managed to escape.

According to the sources from the Vasai police station, locals have been involved in the country-liquor business for a long time and, the area being congested, it’s not easy to catch the culprits. Therefore, officials decided to go digital.

“The area is full of mud and quagmires and it is surrounded by mangroves, so it is very difficult to carry out search operations there. And when our small boats venture into these areas to catch hold of the owners of country liquor furnaces, they hide themselves among the locals. So, the drone search was initiated to get an bird’s-eye view of the furnaces and to help us nab their owners,” said an official.

According to sources, the outskirt of the city often receives country liquor or fake liquor from here. In the area there are three small villages that are situated on islands, which is why liquor plants owners have been running their business here without any fear of getting caught.

Additional SP of the area Shrikrishna Kokate, commenting on this development, said, “We asked for a quadcopter on December 31, and till it’s delivered, we will take the help of aeromodeling expert Dr Bharat Gopaldas Verma, who has provided us a drone camera. He is assisting our teams in zeroing in on the country liquor furnaces. We had started searches via drone, from December 31, and found locations of liquor plants. Later, our teams went there to destroy them. As many as 20 to 24 policemen were involved in the operation. We seized four drums and identified two individuals who are involved in this business.”