City police will soon inspect school campuses to determine whether authorities have adhered to the security norms stipulated by police following the abduction of an LKG student from Chettinad Vidyashram last August. One of the key recommendations was installation of CCTV cameras.
Four-year-old Surya Hariharan was kidnapped for ransom from a school campus in R.A. Puram on August 8, 2013 by an unidentified man, who posed as his van driver.
Police teams rescued the boy within hours and later apprehended the gang.
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K. Shankar, Joint Commissioner (East), who led the investigations, later convened a meeting with authorities of different schools in Chennai and asked them to spruce up security at their campuses. Recommendations included installation of CCTV cameras and detailed verification of vehicle drivers.
ADGP S. George, on assuming charge as the Commissioner of Police of Chennai on Wednesday, stated that one of his initial tasks will be to ensure security measures adopted in schools are adequate. “The schools reopen in the first week of June and we want to ensure vital security apparatus are installed as per the advice of the police. School administrators must ensure van or cab drivers transporting children possess valid ID cards,” he said.
Apart from urging school authorities to run background checks on drivers, parents can also carry out individual checks at the respective police stations near the driver’s residence, the police had advised earlier.
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Mr. George also added that teams led by Additional Commissioner (Traffic) will soon carry out document verification of school vans and buses.