Chandigarh police use drone to drop tear gas on sword-wielding protesters

The Chandigarh police deployed a drone to drop tear gas shells on Qaumi Insaaf Morcha protesters who tried to breach barricades with swords on Independence Day. The force said it is only the second in India to use a drone for this purpose, after the Haryana police did so at the Shambhu border during farmers' protests in February 2024.

Senior Superintendent of Police Kanwardeep Kaur told Hindustan Times the idea came from the Haryana protests. A special clamp fitted to the drone holds a tear gas shell after its pin is pulled, the shell bursts four seconds after release. Inspector General of Police Pushpendra Kumar said the drone allows greater accuracy and lets police abort deployment if civilians are at risk. He said the drone will be used only in exceptional cases. Eight police personnel were injured by stone-pelting during the protest.

Police used 100 tear gas shells overall, most thrown by hand. Besides the drop drone, they used one for surveillance and another for mobile announcements to negotiate with the crowd.