GURUGRAM: Golf Course Road Extension or Southern Peripheral Road (SPR) where an MNC executive was attacked is equipped with more than 36 cameras but none of these was able to capture the crime, raising doubts over their utility. So far police have failed to gather any crucial footage which can help them in identifying the culprits.
The Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) installed 36 cameras that rotate 360 degrees and covers around an area of 100m to 200m at eight points from Sector 56 intersection to Vatika Chowk (Sohna Chowk) on SPR.
On Tuesday night, after firing at the victim, Pooja, the miscreants fled from the spot either by the main road or a sector road. All these stretches are equipped with CCTV but no useful footage have been recovered from them.
PK Aggarwal, GMDA smart city project head, said, “All cameras are running well and if accused passed from these ways and falls in camera range, would surely be captured.”
According to sources, police commissioner KK Rao has ordered to check the CCTV of the command control unit to identify the culprits. Apart from this, the police also checked the CCTV cameras installed in nearby houses but are yet to identify and arrest those who fired at Pooja.
According to the police, while checking CCTV cameras installed in nearby homes, quite a few were found lying defunct for the past few months.
“Those installed by residents face technical glitches like not supporting night mode, poor quality of recording, or placement at non-useful angles. There is a sheer lack of awareness and knowledge when it comes to installing the right camera at the right place,” said a cop investigating this case.
Residents also claimed that streetlights are almost non-existent on the stretches. Manoj Singh, a resident of Sector 67, said, “The entire stretch of the road needs to be equipped with CCTV cameras and these 30-odd cameras alone will not suffice. This is a very busy road and the approach roads too need to have CCTV cameras and streetlights in working condition. SPR is dotted with housing societies and residents like me feel unsafe going out after dark. As it is in the winter season very less people can be seen on the road after evening and the streetlights, CCTV cameras and presence of cops needs to be increased in this area.”
An analysis of heinous crime investigations reveal that the key obstruction in the identification and nabbing of accused was the lack of useful CCTV footage in several cases, despite many cameras being installed in the area.