They have been used to assassinate militants in West Asia and track Maoists in central India. Kerala is flying them to trace lockdown flouters.
For over a week, Kerala’s skies have been dotted with unmanned aerial vehicles or drones, watching out for social-distancing violations from gatherings to games of beach football.
What the police want is not to identify and prosecute the offenders but only to scare them into rushing back home. So, unlike the stealth UAVs of the US military, these small drones have been fitted out with sirens and flashing lights so the people below can’t miss them even after sunset.
Wireless technology has also been allowing the police to bark out instructions over speakers fitted onto the flying machines.
