Panaji (Goa): The Goa Police has patted its back on being the first in the country to deploy advanced aerial surveillance solution during the three-day long Time Out peak tourist period last month, in order to ensure safety of the visitors and locals.

Anti Terrorist Squad SP Kartik Kashyap said the solution was deployed round-the-clock for the Timeout 72 Music Festival and New Year’s Eve 2017.

“The Goa Police proactively deployed an advanced aerial surveillance solution for the safety and security of domestic and international tourists visiting Goa. This was of paramount importance, keeping in view the rapidly evolving threat scenario for large gatherings of this scale. There was a gathering of over 2 lakh tourists converged at Vagator, Baga, Candolim and Calangute beaches. The Goa Police, true to its reputation in proactive monitoring, deployed drones equipped with the latest zoom-capable cameras,” he told reporters this evening.

During the night hours, the special thermal sensing cameras were deployed that could sense body heat, monitor dark areas and beaches for the safety of the people. “ This kind of deployment, in this scale was done for the first time in India, by any police department. The primary objective was to monitor any unusual gatherings, fights and/or suspicious activities,” he said further mentioning, “We are determined to use this solution to monitor all future high tourist gathering events and activities as well as for search and rescue operations besides other criminal investigations.”

This solution was provided by Bangalore-based startup IIO Technologies Pvt Ltd, under supervision of its Founder and CEO Sunny Sharma in association With DJI. Kashyap and South SP Arvind Gawas were trained to efficiently utilize the capability of this unique solution using cutting-edge technology.

Team TNV