PATNA: Bihar Police will equip itself with modern drones to strengthen surveillance and policing across the state.
In order to further bolster the force for better policing, the state police have decided to buy 50 drones by March 2026, Additional Director General of Police (ADG) (Modernisation) Sudhanshu Kumar said on Friday.
Every district will get at least one drone, each capable of remaining airborne for 45 minutes. In addition, 10 high-quality drones will be purchased for the Special Task Force (STF) to carry out surveillance in riverine areas, Kumar said, adding that Rs 25 crore has been sanctioned for the purpose.
A high-powered committee gave its approval on January 14, he added.
“It is an ambitious plan as per which the state police will be purchasing drones. We hope to purchase drones by the end of March this year,” the ADG said, adding that police personnel will be deployed with drones after being given proper training.
Stating that drone services are being used broadly for two purposes, he said drones are deployed for maintaining law and order and crowd control, besides being used by the STF for better surveillance to check organised crime in riverine areas.
The drones that the state police plan to buy will be equipped with an ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) system, which will help in checking traffic violations.
At present, the state police have been availing drone services from private agencies, which charge the department on an hourly basis for the duration for which a drone remains airborne. Now, however, the department has decided to have its own fleet for better policing, he said.
Prior to buying the drones, the state police carried out a comprehensive exercise. “We contacted states where police personnel have been using drones. We also contacted agencies that supply drones to such states and, based on the state police’s requirement, we finalised the plan,” he said.
In addition, as part of its plan to install CCTVs in all police stations across the state, along with dashboards, the central government has approved Rs 112.46 crore for the purpose. Kumar said the installation of dashboards will enable police officials to monitor the real-time functioning of CCTVs installed in police stations.
“In other words, it would show whether or not a CCTV is functional in a particular police station,” the ADG added.
The government has also sanctioned Rs 23.58 crore in the current financial year for the installation of CCTVs in government buildings such as the old secretariat and other secretariat buildings, including Vikas Bhawan, Vishweswaraiya Bhawan, Soochna Bhawan, Sinchai Bhawan and Adhiveshan Bhawan, Kumar said.
Further, following the implementation of three new criminal laws — the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA) — which place special emphasis on the use of “forensics”, the central government has sanctioned Rs 162 crore for making seven new Forensic Science Laboratories (FSLs) operational and for modernising four existing FSLs at Patna, Muzaffarpur, Bhagalpur and Purnea.
The funds have been sanctioned under the centrally sponsored “Scheme for Modernisation of Forensic Capacities”, he added.
“The buildings of seven new FSLs are ready and we hope to make them operational by March next,” the ADG said.