For the first time ever, the Pondicherry Police on Wednesday employed a UAS to try and crack a kidnap case. The “multicopter” was used to trace the house in which 10-year-old Neeraj Jain, son of Manish Kumar Jain, was held captive in December.
A top official told Express that the “multicopter” was fitted with a surveillance camera to take aerial shots of various places in the town to track the house. A sketch of the house was made using the description given by Neeraj who was released by kidnappers after receiving a ransom of `10 lakh ($16,000).
Sources added that the kidnappers had been identified and would be booked soon. They, however, refused to divulge further details.
Ten-year-old Neeraj was kidnapped by unidentified persons in the first week of December. He was released by his captors near a private nursing home after reportedly receiving a ransom of `10 lakh. Sharing details on the working of the UAS with Express, Christopher Prashanth, Manager of Flying Media, said the multicopter worked on propellers and was fitted with a high resolution Sony camera.
On Wednesday, the remote-controlled aircraft made an aerial surveillance of areas where the house was suspected to be located. The camera attached to the UAS took high-quality shots of houses which would be analysed to trace the house, Prashanth said. The UAS can reach a height of 500 metres and take photographs of objects within a radius of 1 km, he added.
The UAS was imported by the Chennai-based firm from Hongkong. The firm, Prashanth said, has plans to associate with the TN government to put the machines to a similar use. As of now, the UAS are being used by corporate houses on experimental basis, he said, adding, that they could also be used in weather services and crowd-control. The police are using the aircraft free of cost on trial basis.
Source: The New Indian Express