Police enlist drones in Easter gatherings clamp down (VIDEO)

Police conducted 3,269 checks and booked 119 pedestrians and drivers in violation of restriction measures in just 12 hours, between 6pm on Sunday and 6am on Monday.

Police press officer said 935 checks were also conducted at premises to ensure that coronavirus decrees forbidding gatherings were being adhered to, filing one report.

Police said they will be maintaining the intensity of checks on Easter Monday.

Authorities enlist drones in Easter gatherings clamp down

Police raised drones into Cyprus skies, boosting ground-level patrols seeking to stamp out Easter gatherings in defiance of government decrees issued in a bid to curb the spread of coronavirus.

Drones flew over specific areas, police said, including urban and country areas, where people may have gathered to celebrate the Greek Orthodox Easter despite repeated calls by the government to avoid such gatherings which may result in the island’s coronavirus outbreak dragging on for longer.

The unmanned aircrafts were also employed in the police’s efforts to clamp down on bonfires, locally known as lampradjies, traditionally lit on Easter Saturday for the burning of Judas Iscariot, the apostle who betrayed Jesus according to Christian faith.