02 February,2009 07:55 AM IST | | Vedika Tripathi
Installed at railway stations to minimise crime, CCTV images were of little help to crack the high number of robbery cases in 2008; officials say they have their limitations
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NOT ENOUGH: A railway official says that it is unfair to blame thefts on CCTVs, as they also occur in areas like train compartments and between railway stations that are not been covered by CCTV cameras. PIC/SAYED SAMEER ABEDI |
The Rs 2.5 crore spent annually on the installation and upkeep of over 1,100 CCTV cameras at Central and Western Railway local stations is clearly not doing enough for commuter safety.
Of the 4,300 cases of theft registered in 2008, only 12 were solved in CR stations, and a mere nine were solved in the WR ones with the help of CCTV images.
A senior RPF official said the limitations of using CCTV images to fight crime. "While there are 75 RPF cops in CR and around 50 in the WR who monitor CCTV cameras, often it is the already-burdened stationmaster who is entrusted with the responsibility, which is cumbersome even for trained personnel. Keeping a tab on CCTV images from different locations 24x7 is tiring. Even rotating shifts does little to ease matters," he said.u00a0
B S Sidhu, chief security officer, RPF, however, said that it is unfair to blame the CCTV cameras for the poor detection rate.
"CCTV cameras have not been installed inside trains, or away from railway stations. Thefts also occur in areas like train compartments and between railway stations that are not been covered by CCTV cameras. It is unfair to blame it all on CCTVs," argued Sidhu. S C Parhi, divisional security commissioner, CR, said CCTV images were a big help during post-mortem investigations. "Many stations have been covered with CCTV cameras in 2008, and consequently, the number of successful detections has gone up," said Parhi.
And D B Kasar, senior divisional security commissioner, WR, added, "We keep our personnel updated on developing crime situations so we can ensure 100 per cent security to our commuters. They keep a tab on suspicious movements on the CCTVs. We have followed these simple steps to solve many cases."
535
CCTV cameras installed u00a0on the WR route
565
CCTV cameras installed on the CR route
Thefts at railway stationsu00a0
|
u00a0 |
Till October 2008 |
10/2007 |
|
Mobile Theft |
641 |
615 |
|
Bag Lifting |
126 |
119 |
|
Bag Dropping |
18 |
3 |
|
Bag Cutting |
5 |
12 |
|
Pocket Cutting |
32 |
20 |
|
Pick Pocketing |
341 |
325 |
|
Chain/mangalsutra theft |
365 |
295 |
|
Other thefts |
734 |
611 |
|
Total |
2262 |
2000 |
