A few weeks ago, a burglar from Vijayawada had reportedly gained entry into a resort at Rushikonda and made good with about 53 tolas of gold. After four weeks, police nabbed the accused after hard work as there were no clues.
The resort though a noted one was not equipped with CCTV cameras. Similarly, some days ago, unidentified miscreants had made good with about 600 grams of gold ornaments from a gold shop in One Town area. Lack of CCTV cameras is again the reason for growing crime, the police say.
Since the last few weeks, the city police have been creating awareness and campaigning for installation of CCTV cameras for security of the self-owned premises / private establishments under the campaign ‘Mana Illu- Mana Badhyatha.’
Now the police have promulgated orders under 144 Cr PC to enforce installation of CCTV cameras.
Police officials have fixed the deadline of March 31 for installation of cameras by the big establishments, failing which action will be initiated against them under relevant sections. However, police said that in case of small establishments, the choice has been left to the owners.
“In spite of our repeated requests, some of the big private establishments like gold shops, hotels and resorts have not installed CCTV cameras. This has led to offences there,” said Police Commissioner Manish Kumar Sinha.
He said that having CCTV cameras will help in building confidence and a sense of security among the citizens, and also deter perpetrators from committing crime as their acts will be recorded.
In many cases, the cameras helped police in investigating the crime, and also to gather scientific evidence in the form of footages resulting in the conviction of the accused in courts, the Police Commissioner added.
Police have targeted 25 types of establishments which are being targeted for installation of CCTV cameras. They include banks, ATMs, financial institutions, jewellery shops, hotels, guest houses, restaurants, bars and pubs, wine and beer shops, residential apartments, office buildings, petrol pumps, shopping complexes, shopping malls, super markets, gyms, sports complexes / stadiums, cinema halls and complexes, educational institutions, hospitals and function halls / convention centres.
