MARGAO
Hazard a guess why the men-in-uniform attached to the Margao police station literally hopped from one establishment to another in the commercial capital on Tuesday morning.
Well, the police personnel were on the job to lay their hands on the CCTV footage of establishments in the city following a daring theft of cash amounting to Rs 80,000 from a two-wheeler.
Indeed, the police personnel were left with no option but to approach the private establishments with the hope of laying their hands on the CCTV footage to obtain clues in the theft case, once again bringing the CCTV cameras under scanner.
Take note, the CCTV camera in front of the Margao Residency was found in working condition, but Margao police said they could not get the footage as there were issues concerning the storage.
Inquiries by The Goan have further revealed that barring 2-3 cameras, the remaining 20 cameras, which were revived by the authorities post-murder of young city jeweller Swapnil Walke last year, lie defunct for want of maintenance.
The authorities had revived around 23 CCTV cameras installed at strategic locations following Walke’s murder, but the delay in the payment of maintenance charges by the Margao Municipal Council to the company is attributed to the state of affairs of the CCTV cameras.
That’s not all. The MMC had in its July 9 meeting resolved to approach the district authorities with a plea to bring the entire city under the CCTV scanner from the MPLAD funds, but the proposal has not made much headway to date.
When the Goan contacted Margao Municipal Engineer, Diniz D’Mello to shed light on the delay in the payment of the maintenance charged to the contractor manning the CCTV cameras, he conceded that the file has not yet been cleared for the payment. “I think the MMC has to pay an amount of Rs two lakh as maintenance charges to the contractor. I will discuss the matter with the Chief Officer,” he said.
The police, however, said the latest episode is indeed a serious matter and the police will take up the matter with the district authorities for appropriate action. “Just imagine a situation if the city was hit by a serious crime and the CCTV cameras do not help the investigating agencies. It is high time the authorities including the Margao Municipal Council take serious note of the situation,” remarked a police officer.
In the instant case, a rent-a-bike operator had kept a bag containing cash of Rs 8000 and other documents in the dickey of an Activa scooter parked near the MMC building on Monday evening. He later realized that the dickey was tampered with and the bag containing the cash had gone missing.
It was later in the night that the victim received a call from a citizen stating that his bag containing documents was found on the Menezes hospital road. “We approached many establishments on the road from the city for the CCTV footage, but in vain,” the victim said.
