The Crime Branch of Mumbai Police on Saturday collected hard drives of around 40 CCTV cameras, to review the footage for understanding the cause of fire, senior police officers told The Hindu on Saturday. “The hard drives of all the relevant CCTV cameras have been taken. Some of them have been damaged in the fire-fighting exercise, but the data can be retrieved,” a senior police officer said.
Police have also started recording the statements of officials and the maintenance staff of the State Secretariat Mantralaya. On Friday, 15 injured had testified before the police. “We asked all the relevant officers, who were present at the location, regarding the fire,” the officer said. Till now, the statements of nearly 30 injured, officials and maintenance staff have been recorded.
Asked if the Crime Branch would investigate the lapses, sources said that the mandate was only to look into the “cause of the fire.” “But whatever we find in the course of the investigation, will be brought to the notice of the seniors,” an official said.
Meanwhile, highly placed sources told The Hindu that the police will record the statements of politicians too, if required. Meanwhile, four police teams, accompanied by 35 forensic experts, structural engineers and fire brigade officials, inspected the sixth and the seventh floor on Saturday. Due to the heat, the police were unable to reach these floors on Friday. Police sources said servers were unaffected by the fire. “They have been damaged to some extent due to water but the retrieval work is going on,” an officer said.
