BENGALURU: The city traffic police, who depend on CCTV footage to identify vehicles involved in hit-and-run incidents, have not been able to solve some recent cases as they cite many reasons. The city has around 1,100 CCTV cameras and another 7,000 are being added under the ‘Safe City’ project.
Three days ago, a 33-year-old accountant, Sushma, was killed after an unidentified vehicle crashed into her scooter in Badrappa Layout. But the Hebbal traffic police have not found any clues in the case, saying there are no CCTV cameras on the stretch. Now, they are checking footage from nearby traffic junctions to identify the vehicle.
This is not the only case. Three weeks ago, a speeding high-end car hit a TNIE employee in front of Balabrooie Guesthouse. The High Grounds traffic police claim they could trace the vehicle movement on the CCTV camera, but could not pick the vehicle number as the footage is blurred.
Arun Kumar B, who sustained injuries, said, “An auto driver who saw the white Jaguar car that hit me shared the details with the police. I was severely injured and the auto driver rushed me to a hospital. I wonder how the policemen have not traced the vehicle even after a couple of weeks. I repeatedly called the investigating officer, but he said there is no proper CCTV footage. I doubt the accused will be arrested.”
DCP Traffic (East) Kala Krishnaswamy said, “There are several ways to identify vehicles involved in hit-and-run cases. CCTV cameras are just one option.. But I don’t want to reveal those technical aspects.” MN Srihari, an expert from Transportation Infrastructure Planning Systems, said, “The staff working at the Traffic Management Centre are not trained properly and they do not know how to monitor the CCTV footage to crack crimes and traffic-related cases. Five years ago, there were fewer CCTVs, but the police could solve hit and run cases. Now they have sufficient high-definition cameras but still are not able to upgrade to the technology.”