3 min readNew DelhiSep 20, 2010 03:07 AM IST
First published on: Sep 20, 2010 at 03:07 AM IST
The Delhi Police still seems a long way from its plan to have important markets and monuments under electronic surveillance. On Sunday,after the attack near Jama Masjid,the Delhi Police were left clueless about the attackers,with no CCTV cameras outside the mosque.
The Wakf Board was supposed to install nine cameras inside the premises of Jama Masjid following the 2006 bomb blast there. But on Sunday,none were found. The police realised there were no cameras,only bare wires dangling from the spots the cameras should have been. “The cameras were installed a long time back. Now,only wires remain,” said a police officer.
“None of the cameras installed by the Wakf Board were working. We had written to them about it,but no action was taken. We sent them back recently,” said Syed Tarique Bukhari,general secretary of Jama Masjid’s Consultative Committee.
The fact was confirmed by Delhi Police spokesperson Rajan Bhagat. “We have not installed any cameras around Jama Masjid. The only cameras we have are all inside the monument. We did not get any footage of the attack. The registration number of the motorcycle was given to us by an eyewitness who called us,” Bhagat told Newsline.
Shahi Imam Syed Ahmed Bukhari,meanwhile,claimed the authorities had ignored his repeated requests for stepping up security of the area. Waving a letter written by Bukhari to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,Bukhari’s brother Syed Yahya Bukhari said,“There are two metal detectors and a policeman at each gate of Jama Masjid. But as you can see,nothing works and is definitely not a deterrent.”
Police should have been vigilant:V K Malhotra
The Delhi BJP on Sunday condemned the firing incident outside the Jama Masjid and said the police should have been more careful in ensuring proper security in the “sensitive” area. Opposition Leader in the Delhi Assembly V K Malhotra said the Delhi Police should have been “more vigilant” as there have been intelligence inputs about such attacks in the national capital ahead of the Commonwealth Games. “We condemn the incident. It has taken place just two weeks before the Games. We feel police should have been more vigilant,” he said. He said the BJP had been urging the Government to install CCTV cameras in “sensitive areas” like the area near the mosque. “But no such cameras have been installed. If the cameras had been installed earlier it would have helped in getting some clues,” Malhotra said.
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