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Residents instructed to install CCTV cameras in Belagavi
Residents of Ramthirth Nagar in the Malmaruti police station area also said that they were given a ten-day ultimatum to install cameras
The Belagavi police commissionerate has asked the residents to install CCTV cameras in front of their houses, particularly in the outlying areas to curb the incidents of burglaries and help law enforcement in identifying and apprehending thieves in the district, people familiar with the matter said.
“During regular meetings with residents, the police have stressed the importance of having cameras and advised installation based on our financial capabilities,” said a resident from Tilakwadi police station limits.
Residents of Ramthirth Nagar in the Malmaruti police station area also said that they were given a ten-day ultimatum to install cameras.
They added that the police, who failed in controlling the burglaries in their locality, are holding them responsible for the burglaries for not installing the CCTV cameras. “The officer said that there would be no burglaries if we had fixed the cameras in front of our houses,” the residents said.
The officer has given them ten days to install the cameras, and they have decided to meet police commissioner SN Siddaramappa and Congress MLA Asif (Raju) Sait.
“More burglary cases have been reported from our locality for about two months, targeting the door-locked houses. Station police, under mounting pressure from higher officials, are mentally torturing us to get cameras installed,” the residents on condition of anonymity said, adding that the residents are being held responsible for the police’s failure.
The locality has many advocates who criticised the police officer’s order and his deadline for installing the cameras. Responding to the order and deadline of the police officer, Advocate Somanath Hosamani, practising in the Belagavi court and residing in the colony, said, “We (advocates) would have challenged the order if it was given in writing, in court. Since it was an oral order, we wait and watch the next course of action by the police department,” Advocate Hosamani said.
Although ten days were given to install the cameras to access police services required for administrative works like NOCs for jobs and passport-related matters, the police officer at the station has not signed the certificate copies applied online for about two weeks.
“He told the applicants that he would sign on the application copies only if they produce proof of installing the cameras,” a resident who applied for police services told HT.
While the directive was issued to multiple localities, no deadlines were imposed in Sahyadri Nagar, Kuvempu Nagar, Hanuman Nagar, Ganeshpur, and Cantonment area in APMC station limits and Bhagya Nagar, Hindu Colony, Nanawadi Road, Guruprasad Colony, and adjoining areas in Tilakwadi station limits. Former vice-president of Cantonment Board Belagavi, Sajid Shaikh, emphasised that advisories were given to residents in bungalow areas, and installation was not made compulsory.
Belagavi North MLA Asif (Raju) Sait expressed his intention to discuss the matter with police commissioner SN Siddaramappa and address concerns raised by Ramthirth Nagar residents. He emphasised that making CCTV installation compulsory and depriving people of police services is incorrect.
Reacting to the inspector’s order regarding the installation of CCTV cameras, Belagavi police commissioner SN Siddaramappa defended the order, and said, “What’s wrong with his instructions? His instructions were favourable for the citizens.”
He told HT that citizens’ cooperation with the police was a must in curbing anti-social elements, including incidents like burglaries and riots. “The inspector’s instructions must be taken as advice and followed as an order,” commissioner Siddaramappa said.
