Widespread use of CCTV cameras in several places has come in handy for the police in solving crimes. The recent murder case of an elderly woman at JJ Nagar, which the police cracked within 24 hours, is a classic example of how a CCTV camera at an ideal location can simplify the job of the investigators.
“The most crucial clue we got was through the CCTV footage recorded in a camera nearby,” said City Police Commissioner S George, while briefing reporters about the case.
Police said even though the face of the accused was not clear in the video, they could identify him with his physique.
Police said that even last year, they were able to identify a five-member armed gang that looted two banks, with the help of CCTV footages. Subsequently, they were gunned down in an encounter. Though they bank which they robbed did not have a CCTV camera, the culprits were caught on the camera of another bank where they had gone on a recce.
Similarly, in November last, the city police solved the murder case of a techie, who was killed near a TASMAC bar in Velachery, with the help of CCTV recordings. The victim, Chandrasekar Kulkarni, was murdered by a gang that mistook him for a member of a rival gang. A crucial piece of evidence for the police in the case was the recordings on the CCTV camera of a nearby shop.
“Besides helping us identify criminals, CCTV cameras are of greater use during the trial stages. Courts have started acknowledging the footages as evidence and the forensic developments in analysing video footages also helps in ascertaining the authenticity of the video before the courts,” said a senior police officer.
However, he said, despite repeated instructions given by the police, most of the institutions had still not installed cameras on their premises.
After the gruesome murder of siblings Muskan-Rithik in Coimbatore, the School Education Department directed all schools to install CCTV cameras at the entrance of the schools where children were usually picked up and dropped at.
But the directions remain only on paper.