Mangaluru: Lack of security arrangements in city even after cooker blast case

Mangaluru: As “Udayavani” was on a mission to check the security arrangements in important locations of the city, in the times when the terrorist activities are seemingly increasing, recent being the Mangaluru cooker blast case, lack of security arrangements were observed in several locations.

It is observed that the CCTV cameras, metal detectors, luggage screening, and several other security-related instruments have been neglected. Although metal detectors are installed, the number of people passing through it are few.

In the Central Railway Station alone, although there are six metal detectors and a luggage screening machine, only three detectors are in use, while the other three are kept to rest. Similarly, the luggage screening machine has been kept untouched.

Metal detectors at KSRTC Bus Stand, Deputy Commissioner’s office, Mangaluru City Corporation, and several other important buildings, were witnessed to be in similar condition as in the railway station.

The Mangaluru cooker blast case that occurred nine days back, itself hints at security failure in the city and district overall.

As a mirror to the security failure, the blast accused Mohammed Shareeq’s movement has not been captured in some of the CCTV cameras of the city.

It can be noted that earlier, in several instances, the CCTV cameras have not been of great help to the police during the investigation process.

It is learned that CCTV surveillance is being neglected in the city.

According to the Karnataka Public Safety (Measures) Enforcement Act, 2017, CCTV cameras are mandatory in places where there are movements of more than 500 people in a day or 100 people at once in buildings and complexes. It is also mandatory that the high-resolution cameras be installed with a footage backup of 30 days. Within the Mangaluru Commissionerate limits, we have 15 law and order police stations, four traffic police stations, and one women’s police station. Under this, we have a total of 20,870 buildings equipped with CCTV cameras. Out of it, only 3,224 buildings have high-resolution cameras, and 1,074 have the capacity to store 30-day backups.

Speaking to Udayavani, DCP, Crime, and Traffic, Dinesh Kumar said, “Metal detectors are not mandatory, but the CCTV cameras are in buildings and offices. Along with the directions given to install CCTV cameras in the buildings, the process of installing additional CCTV cameras in the city is on jointly under Mangaluru Police and Mangaluru Smart City Limited.”

(- by Santosh Bollettu)