Security for the marathon and cycling events during last year’s Commonwealth Games appeared to have been compromised as Delhi Police have now found that the footage submitted to them were tampered with allegedly by a couple who bagged a Rs 25 lakh contract for the job.
The CCTVs, installed by the company owned by them, could not record the happenings in the area and most of the 61 DVDs they submitted to police after the event were “fabricated, blank or copy of some other camera recordings mentioning different locations,” investigations have found.
Following the revelations, police registered a case of cheating and criminal conspiracy against Pawan Gambhir and Seema Rajput on Wednesday, 360 days after the event was held in the capital where world-known cyclists and marathon runners took part.
Gambhir and Seema could not be contacted for comments.
Delhi was on a hightened security alert during October first half last year due to the holding of Commonwealth Games in which sports personalities from 71 countries participated.
The registration of the case came after a vigilance enquiry established that the CCTV footage were “blank or faulty” and they submitted it after “manipulating and editing” by changing the timing and location of cameras. The Vigilance probe was prompted by a complaint from a company.
Gambhir’s wife Seema, who owns Indo-Tech Systems, was awarded the Rs 25 lakh contract by Delhi Police’s Provision and Logistics department to install CCTVs for a particular portion for the two CWG events.
The firm was asked to install the CCTVs and other accessories by October six last year and it had to be there till October 14, a senior police official said.
After completion of the event, the official said, Gambhir deposited 61 DVDs in Connaught Place Police Station on October 17, 2010 and raised a bill of Rs 25 lakh for which the work order was given.
A vigilance enquiry was conducted and all the 61 DVDs of the October 10 cycling event was examined by a technical expert, who opined that almost all the DVDs were non-functional.
“Some of those were blank. M/S Indo Tech System had to record full even from 7 am to 6 pm but Gambhir had deposited fabricated, blank or copy of some other camera recordings mentioning different locations of cameras. The allegations levelled in the complaint against Gambhir were substantiated,” the official said quoting the vigilance enquiry.
