A bird's eye view of what looks like a ground surrounded by lush green paddy fields. A group of men on the ground are running in all four directions. Some have even taken off their mundu and have covered their heads, so that their identity will not be revealed. Some can even be seen desperately trying to hide behind coconut trees. These are the visuals from one of the hilarious videos released by Kerala police showing people running away after seeing surveillance drones. The videos -- with songs and dialogues of famous Malayalam movies as background score -- has been making viewers laugh.
The video was released by Vallikunnam police officials in Alappuzha district. The video is from two days ago, when about 20 men who were assembled in a field in Vallikunnam, started to disperse and run after seeing the surveillance drone.
Since the men were amidst large paddy fields, their efforts to hide from the surveillance camera of the drone miserably failed.
No one was spared from the surveillance cameras: from those who tried to act innocent -- by acting as if they were not part of the group, to those who desperately tried to keep their face off the drone’s camera by sitting still in small hideouts, to those trying to hide behind trees. Even the registration number of the vehicles at the spot were recorded.
As per the lockdown protocol imposed to prevent the spread of pandemic COVID-19 in the state, people are not allowed to gather in groups. Kerala Police introduced the surveillance drones to help officials to monitor people breaking the lockdown regulations.
Talking to TNM, officials of Vallikunnam police said that no cases were registered against the people. “Everyone dispersed and ran away seeing the drone. There were multiple incidents like this, only this we have put out as video,” said the official.
In another video from the coastal region of Kollam district, men assembled in groups can be seen running away after realising that a drone had spotted them. The video released by Karunagappally police officials, has also been widely shared.