The Kerala Police have hired a helicopter for operational purposes. They have struck an agreement with Pawan Hans to hire AS 365 Dauphin N3, Medium Twin-Engine helicopter for ₹1.44 crore for 20 hours of flight time a month.
The agreement covered rent, fuel and pilot fee. The company would charge ₹60,000 for every additional hour flown.
11-seater aircraft
The crew, a pilot and flight officer conversant with police codes and radio call signs, would keep the 11-seater aircraft in constant operational readiness at the international airport here.
Officials said an air-support division was imperative for the force to meet emerging security threats.
The copter would help Kerala Thunderbolts, the Special Weapons and Tactic Team (SWAT) of the State law enforcement, skirt traffic and save time if the police required to deploy them rapidly to interdict armed terrorists or move bomb disposal squads.
Given the large population of seagoing fishermen, marine search and operations were a priority for the police.
In the past two years, monsoon flooding had cut off large parts of the State and emergency services were late in surveillance and reaching the trapped localities such as landslip-ravaged Kavalappara in Malappuram.
The helicopter might give the police a head start in such situations and reduce the inevitable delay and cost in seeking the help of the Indian Air Force or Navy. (The IAF had slapped a bill of ₹113 crore for flood-related air operations in 2018. The State had sought exemption from paying the amount.)
The police said they were unlikely to deploy the helicopter for anti-Maoist operations in north Kerala unless the security situation warranted real-time aerial surveillance to track and locate armed insurgents.
