Cops retrieve footage from 102 CCTVs

The Mumbai Police Crime Branch officers probing the fire at Mantralaya have retrieved the CCTV footage of the blaze-affected floors.

The Mumbai Police Crime Branch officers probing the fire at Mantralaya have retrieved the CCTV footage of the blaze-affected floors. They had earlier said the footage may have been compromised as the hard disk containing it got wet in fire-fighting operations.

Crime Branch sources revealed that the retrieved footage shows the fire-affected floors until the time the fire affected the CCTV cameras. We have been able to retrieve the CCTV recordings from the hard disk,which we have taken into our possession. The images are clear and reveal what was taking place on the blaze-affected floors until the CCTV cameras were rendered useless, said Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) Niket Kaushik.

Crime Branch sources said the recordings of 102 CCTV cameras on the fire-affected floors have been recovered and the analysis of the footage would start soon.

We will go through the recordings in detail to ascertain if it was an accident and to pin-point where it originated, said Kaushik.

The Crime Branch recorded the statements of more than 82 witnesses by Tuesday afternoon. The witnesses include injured persons as well as employees who were on the fire-affected floors. Sources said the police have not yet recorded the statements of any ministers who were present when the incident took place.

Meanwhile,Crime Branch officers said they are still awaiting the report of the state Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) in Kalina to ascertain if the switch rack on the fourth floor caused the fire.

We are yet to get the report from FSL. Lab officers felt the switch rack may hold some answers and had taken it for analysis. We expect the report soon, said a Crime Branch officer,who did not wish to be named.

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The officer said the FSL had asked for extra personnel from their Nashik and Nagpur centres.

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