A tear gas shell-dropping drone system has been developed by the BSF that can be used by police for controlling protesters and rioters, a senior officer of the border-guarding force said on Friday.

He said the "drone tear smoke launcher" can be used for launching these shells from an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or drone and it "will be a potential force multiplier for the security forces working in the law-and-order management domain".

A Border Security Force (BSF) spokesperson said the new system was tested recently at its famed tear smoke unit (TSU) in Tekanpur, Madhya Pradesh and this was informed at the annual governing body meeting of the special unit held in Delhi under the chairmanship of BSF Director General (DG) Pankaj Kumar Singh.

The TSU was established under the BSF in 1976 and it develops and manufactures anti-riot tear smoke munitions for supply to both central and state police forces. The BSF is primarily deployed to guard the Indian borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh, besides playing a variety of roles in the country's internal security domain.

A video clip shared by the force showed at least six tear smoke shells placed tightly in a metal cage fixed under a hexacopter drone. The drone system drops the tear shells from the air at designated spots.

During the meeting, the BSF DG praised the TSU for bringing out a variety of non-lethal munitions for police and security forces as he said "indigenous production of these items has reduced the country's dependence on foreign munitions".

The TSU also produces a variety of other lachrymatory munitions, flash-bang shells, impact munitions and customised products for special operations, the BSF spokesperson said.