Residents install CCTVs on their own

To catch thieves on 21st B Main in Sector 1

By SAFIYA SAYEED
Prompted by several thefts in their vicinity, 18 residents of 21st B Main in Sector 1 pooled in to setup a CCTV surveillance system. And already, it is showing some results. Last month, one of their eight cameras caught a thief entering two houses and stealing shoes kept inside their compounds. The footage was promptly given to the cops for further investigation.

The residents were propelled to action when thefts occurred early this year. “In April 2017, a house on our road was robbed between 2am and 8am,” says resident Syed Imran. “1 kg gold was stolen. The owners were out of town. The compound gate was locked from outside. Neighbours watched the house till 1am. The main door, back door and terrace door had grill work. The thieves made no noise even while breaking open the grill door. The house was ransacked. The police came with a sniffer dog, took photos and fingerprints. They asked for CCTV camera footage, but there was none.”

In May 2017, Sukino Healthcare on 22nd Main was the next victim of robbery. “At 10:30pm, the robbers came dressed as executives. They by-passed the lock / grill and walked out with all the laptops from that office. The neighbour saw the robbers, but he thought they worked
for that company. No CCTV camera footage here too, so the case reached a dead end again.”

Syed spearheaded the CCTV campaign. “After a series of thefts in our neighbourhood, we realised that the presence of CCTVs could have helped the police nail the culprits,” he says. “So I met neighbours one by one, collected Rs 4,500 from each of them and then got the CCTV camera network in place for our street.”

Syed took quotations for CCTVs from four vendors and the residents eventually finalised someone who excelled at price, quality and quicker after-sales service. After a proper recce of the place, the residents chose the right location for the high-end cameras that can see in the dark and also be hard to spot. “We had to convince the contributing homeowners that the camera will not focus on the entrance to their house and instead face the road and record the movement of people and vehicles,” said Syed.

The residents are monitoring the movement of vehicles and people round-the-clock on their smartphones. “Our system is part of community policing program of Bangalore Police,” says Syed.