Hyderabad: CCTVs have helped the city police solve many sensational cases, including the Chandni Jain murder case and the daring daylight cigarette heist.
A boy, whose kidnapper threatened to kill him, was safely returned to his family within 24 hours with CCTVs playing a crucial role in solving the case.
During the Ganesh festival, the SHE Team booked 30 males, including eight minors, for harassing women during the immersion processions based on CCTV footage.
“We can assure a 99 per cent crime detection rate due to the availability of cameras,” said V. Satyanarayana, DCP, south zone.
Having tasted success, the police is widening the scope of CCTVs, which currently cover vast areas, while it was limited to certain hotspots earlier. “It has been helping us in many ways in prevention and detection of crime. Previously, due to lack of CCTVs, we had to get feedback from locals. Whereas now, we get solid evidence on events, helping us get a clear picture,” added the DCP.
Though CCTVs are a nemesis for anti-social elements, they have saved the fate of innocent people many times. “There have been instances where innocent persons were wrongly accused by the mob. After we examined our camera feed, we saved several people,” noted the DCP.
The Hyderabad police had invested in the video enhancement system to analyse the footages without the help from forensic laboratories to avoid delay.
Apart from locals, there are several agencies helping with CCTVs. Some companies do it under the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and MLAs and MPs contribute from their local area development funds.
“Investigation into kidnapping cases, property offences, murders, and even traffic accidents now depend on CCTVs. Linking CCTVs of private parties with the local police has revolutionised crime detection,” a senior police officer from Hyderabad said.
