HYDERABAD: Since two robbers shot a private bus manager in Afzalgunj and killed a person in Bidar, Karnataka, on Thursday, a senior IPS officer from the neighbouring state has been stationed in the city with their teams to apprehend the culprits.
A police source said the senior officer has been in Hyderabad for the last three days. “Along with his teams, the Karnataka police are rigorously working to track down the accused,” the source added.
Both Karnataka and Telangana police are putting in coordinated efforts to locate the suspects. “The Karnataka police are pursuing their own leads, and the Telangana police are working independently. When needed, they are coordinating to share information and trace the accused,” the source told TNIE.
Defunct CCTVs impede probe
However, the investigation is facing challenges due to a lack of functional CCTV coverage. According to a police source, while some leads are being pursued, they often hit dead ends. “In some areas, there are no CCTVs, and in others, the CCTVs are not functioning,” the source added.
Despite claims that the city is heavily monitored by CCTV cameras, the reality is proving otherwise. The defunct cameras have left the police struggling to piece together the movements of the suspects. After shooting the private bus manager in Afzalgunj, the suspects reportedly travelled to Secunderabad and then to Tirumalagiri by auto-rickshaw, covering a total of around 17 km.
Sources revealed that the Tirumalagiri police have reportedly uncovered another lead about the suspects.
Hyderabad Commissioner of Police (CP) CV Anand had recently admitted that many of the city’s CCTVs are becoming non-functional.
“The CCTVs installed six or seven years ago are slowly failing. It has become a significant challenge to replace and maintain them,” the CP had said, promising that a special drive would be conducted in the coming year to replace defunct cameras as they play a critical role in crime detection and maintaining law and order.
It is worth mentioning that the two suspects shot and killed two security guards in Bidar before fleeing to Hyderabad, where they shot a person in Afzalgunj. Since then, both Hyderabad and Karnataka police have been searching for the culprits, but they remain at large.