Drones In Sky On Voting Day

Delhi Polls Facial Recognition System & flying cameras to monitor trouble spots

- Chayyanika Nigam

With protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act raging and back-to-back shooting incidents at Shaheen Bagh and Jamia Millia, the Delhi Assembly election on Saturday will witness an unprecedented security blanket that would include drones and a futuristic facial recognition system which identifies potential trouble-makers.

For the first time, drones mounted with cameras will keep a watch on poll proceedings from the sky. Police said it will also be the first time that Delhi Police will install a high-end Facial Recognition System in and around the ‘vulnerable’ polling booths.

This Automated Facial Recognition System (AFRS) measures facial features and can work in various light conditions, detect make-up, plastic surgery or ageing, and match these against stored data on potential suspects.

“Drones will be used to keep surveillance around polling booths. Mostly, drones will fly above the sensitive areas to maintain law and order,” Devesh Chandra Srivastava, Joint Commissioner of Police (Southern Range), told mail Today.

The decisions were taken after receiving inputs about possible violence at the polling booths in sensitive areas of the city. The security paraphernalia deployed for the polls on Saturday, Mail Today has learnt, includes 60,000 security personnel including 38,400 police personnel, 19,000 home guards and the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF).