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Nagpur: The Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) is planning to manufacture non-lethal weapons, mainly for the use by paramilitary and police forces for mob control. At present it makes conventional weapons ranging from small arms to artillery guns mostly for defence forces.
This comes after the security forces having expressed the need of having non-lethal weapons that can temporarily immobilize a person, rather than kill or inflict serious injury. Last fortnight OFB officials held a meeting with officials of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and paramilitary forces including the National Security Guards (NSG).
Sources said the objective was to bring together developers of the systems, users, and manufacturers on a single platform. The latest technique calls for using non-lethal weapons during mob control. "At times such equipment could also help in catching terrorists alive in 26/11 like situations, said a source in the organization privy to the deliberations.
The DRDO has almost half a dozen new products in various stages of development. One of it was a dazzler gun under design. The glare it creates impairs the vision temporarily and the attacker can be captured. There were other products like a stink grenade that creates a terrible odour, the source said. A presentation was made by a professor from IIT Mumbai who is developing weapon systems using microwaves on which mobile telephones function. The presentation said that if the intensity of the microwave is increased it can also temporarily impair the adversary and he could be easily apprehended. However, exposure has to be for a limited period or else it can also lead to permanent damage, said the source.
"Since importance of non-lethal weapons is increasing, ordnance factory is looking at them as a business opportunity," said the source. Though the para military forces have expressed interest in them, no agency has come up with a specific requirement. Without a clear idea of what is needed, it may be difficult for the OFB to draw up manufacturing plans. More such interactions between developers, users and manufacturers (ordnance factories, in this case) may lead to better understanding of what systems were needed, said an OFB official.