The much touted safe city project of Ludhiana suffers a major setback as the cameras installed for the project are continuously being targeted by thieves. Four cases of theft have been registered against unidentified persons in different areas of the city in the past 24 hours.
The Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) of the CCTV cameras installed at Bharat Nagar chowk, Sarabha Nagar chowk, Ittan Vala chowk in Shimlapuri and Sunder Nagar in Daresi were stolen on Saturday, sending the police department in a tizzy.
The safe city project was launched by former deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal on November 12 last year to keep a tab on the criminal acts in different parts of the city. However, the CCTVs that were supposed to trace criminals have now become a target of thieves.
Himachal Futuristic Communications Limited (HFCL) company that had installed the equipments for safe city project received information through sensors regarding tampering at four different locations, who further intimated the city police through e-mail.
Krishan Lal of Daresi police station who is investigating the case in his area said while CCTV cameras were intact, the main equipment operating them has been stolen. “An FIR has been lodged under section 379 (theft) against unidentified persons and search is on” said Lal.