E-Paper
No CCTV footage of blasts, police struggle for clues
Even after having a total of five closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras outside two of the four blasts sites, the Pune police are struggling to get the footage to identify the bombers. The reason — none of the 10 cameras installed by the civic body along the busy JM Road are working.
Even after having a total of five closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras outside two of the four blasts sites, the Pune police are struggling to get the footage to identify the bombers. The reason — none of the 10 cameras installed by the civic body along the busy JM Road are working.
Four low-intensity blasts went off one after the other on the JM Road on Wednesday evening. The first bomb went off at Bal Gandharva Rangmandir, which is covered by four CCTV cameras. However, no footage of the site is available as the cameras were not functioning.
Similarly, the CCTV camera outside the Dena Bank branch — another blast site — could have given the police vital leads. According to the police, the bicycle the explosives had been strapped to was leaning on a pole that had a CCTV camera installed by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC).
However, the camera has not been working since it was installed over two years ago.
The other two blasts took place outside the McDonald’s outlet, and Garware Bridge.
“Had the Dena bank CCTV camera been working, investigators would have been able to identify the bombers with ease,” claimed Vikas Mathkari, PMC corporator, adding that after the German Bakery blast in February 2010, the civic body had decided to install CCTVs at strategic locations in the city.
The police are, however, hopeful of getting some information from the CCTV camera installed inside McDonald’s. But there is no clarity whether it has recorded any of Wednesday’s activities.
“Our attempt is to collect every scientific evidence which is available,” said joint commissioner of police Sanjeevkumar Singhal.
Even as investigating agencies are struggling to piece together the motive behind the blasts, the non-functional CCTV cameras have brought to the fore the city’s poor security system. While the PMC claims that is the job of the police to appoint an agency to monitor then CCTVs installed across the city, the cops think otherwise.
