The Calcutta High Court directed the Director General of the state police Manoj Malaviya to ensure that CCTV cameras in all state police stations remain functional, and all the non-functional cameras are either replaced or rectified.
Justice Rajasekhar Mantha ordered that strict action will be taken against all the Commissioners and Superintendents of Police by Malaviya for any non-functional CCTV cameras in any police station.
To verify the functionality of each CCTV camera in each police station, Malaviya will receive assistance from the state Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the Ministry of Home Affairs.
A weekly report shall be obtained by the DGP in this regard from the Commissioners and Superintendents of Police as well as superintendent of Railway Police, West Bengal of the CCTV functioning in all state police stations.
Malaviya had filed a report before the court indicating that a status report was sought from all the Commissioners and Superintendents of Police and Superintendents of Government Railway Police on December 20.
A list of functional and non-functional CCTV cameras was produced with the report.Recently, Kolkata Police had stated that they will be installing 3,500 CCTV cameras across the city with a target to install one CCTV camera for every square kilometer across the city.
Also, Kolkata Police will install 150 more Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras that can take pictures of vehicle registration plates. These cameras are reportedly being brought under the Nirbhaya project. In the latest statistics published by the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) Kolkata is the safest city among the country. To make the city more secure, the cameras are being installed. Most of these cameras will be installed in crowded places to ensure women safety.