MAPUSA
With CCTV footage playing a crucial role in tracking down the accused in the sexual assault of a four-year-old girl, Superintendent of Police (North) Rahul Gupta has appealed to Mapusa’s business community and residents to extend surveillance beyond their premises and cover adjoining public spaces.
Gupta said that while many shopkeepers install CCTV cameras to monitor cash counters, employees and internal activities, they often overlook areas outside their establishments, where crimes are equally likely to occur. “My appeal is that shop owners, markets and all stakeholders should also cover areas outside their premise,” Gupta said.
He said footage from cameras near the Mapusa crime scene, though grainy and in black and white, helped investigators identify the suspected assailant.
Eyewitness accounts and the identification of a bag recovered from the scene further strengthened
the investigation.
Gupta said commercial establishments, roadside buildings and residential colonies could significantly improve public safety by installing cameras facing external areas and roads.
The appeal assumes significance in Mapusa, where concerns over non-functional municipal CCTV cameras and surveillance gaps have repeatedly surfaced.
The town’s crowded market, with its concentration of shops, vendors and daily visitors, remains particularly vulnerable to security lapses.
