Kerala CM launches India’s first Drone Forensic Lab

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday inaugurated the country’s maiden Drone Forensic Lab and Research Centre with an aim to mitigate the rising concerns in this regard. The decision to come up with such a facility was conceptualised in early July after a slew of attacks in Jammu and Kashmir using unmanned aerial vehicles by Pakistan-based terrorists.

According to the officials, the lab-cum-research centre is also designed to emphasize on the utility part of the unmanned aerial vehicles alongside addressing the threat aspects of the drones. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the unique initiative at a function held in the SAP parade ground in Thiruvananthapuram, which was followed by the display and air show of drones. Vijayan, while speaking at the function, said there are information that anti-national forces are using drones for various destructive activities including spying, smuggling and terrorism. He also mentioned about the recent drone strike at the Jammu airport by the terrorists. Kerala Director General of Police Anil Kant had on July 2 for the first time informed that the state police force would soon set up the laboratory under the guidance of the Centre. Cyberdome is a tech research and development centre set up by the Kerala Police, conceived as a Cyber Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security and for the augmentation of technology for effective policing of the Kerala Police Department and the state unit would also consider collaborating with the Union government in the research sector.