Following the case of a newborn baby being stolen from the Vani Vilas hospital, the police said there were “serious” security lapses at the medical facility. They have issued a notice to the hospital seeking an explanation.
The hospital has around 12 CCTV cameras, out of which 10 are defunct, a senior police officer said. “Apart from this, there are other major security lapses found during the course of the investigation, and we have issued a notice to the hospital administration seeking information about the medical and paramedical staff, and the security staff present at the time of the incident,” the officer added.
This is not the first time the police have raised the issue of security lapses in the hospital. Last year, the police conducted a security audit and found that CCTV cameras were not working, apart from the lack of security measures to secure the area.
The administration had reasoned with the police that the CCTV cameras were not working owing to Namma Metro work, but it was not true, police officials, who conducted the inspection, said. Such security lapses lead to criminal activities and the hospital is liable under the laws related to public safety, the police added.
In the recent case of child theft , the accused Ayesha was seen walking unnoticed and there were no security guards present. This is a serious breach of security which needs to be strictly dealt with, an officer said, adding that necessary action would be taken based on the response of the hospital.
The police found Ayesha talking on her mobile phone in a CCTV footage. The police recorded the timing and analysed thousands of call record details before zeroing on her. “We were lucky that she happened to pass through one of the CCTV cameras which was functioning. This helped us,” the police officer added.
