No CCTVs installed,State Transport officials caught napping yet again

This information has rattled the investigators struggling to get clues to find the perpetrators of the low-intensity blasts on August 1.

After the German Bakery bomb blasts,it had come to light that the alleged mastermind,Mirza Himayat Baig,and wanted accused Ahmed Zarar alias Yaseen Bhatkal had carried a three-kg RDX bomb from Udgir to Pune,a distance of 380 km,in an MSRTC bus. The detonators were believed to have been attached to the bomb hours before the blast on February 13. Following this revelation,MSRTC had promised to install CCTV cameras at all its major bus-stands in the state,including Swargate,Shivajinagar and Pune. These bus stands also serve as bus depots.

However,nothing seems to have changed at the three bus-stands and the officials are clueless on when the CCTVs will be installed at the three bus-stands,where even baggage scanners are missing.

At Shivajinagar,bags can be seen lying scattered. On Friday,inside four buses,bags remained unattended for a long time. At one of the two gates,two young security personnel sat scribbling some notes.

On the main gate,passengers walk in with bag and baggage without being scanned. “There is no baggage scanner,” said depot manager W K Ingle. As for the CCTVs,Ingle said,“Our head office had asked us to send a proposal after the German Bakery blast. We did that and have been waiting for the CCTVs,” he said. Everyday 1,800 buses arrive and depart from Shivajinagar bus-stand. And 20-25,000 leave for various destinations. “Anybody can come here and keep anything anywhere,” said Shivaji Patil,a passenger.

At Swargate bus-stand,things are the same as they were before the German Bakery blast,officials said. “After following the Bakery blasts and the recent incident in which driver Santosh Mane ran amok in the city ploughing a bus through people and vehicles in the city,several plans were floated for strengthening security,but nothing has materialised. Swargate stand,one of the busiest in the city with approximately 40,000 commuters using it every day,does not have a single CCTV camera or metal detector,” senior officials said.

According to officials,a proposal to install CCTV cameras at strategic points to cover the station premises was sent a year ago. There was also a proposal for installation of a baggage scanner at the main entry and equipping the depot with metal detectors. The proposal was sent by the Pune divisional office last year,but no action has been taken so far. “We need a baggage scanner at the main entry gate and a few hand-held metal detector that can be used for surprise checks once in a while and during festivals when crowd swells,” said an official with Swargate bus stand.

At the Pune stand which also attracts crowds from nearby Pune Railway station,no security measure has been taken,said officials.

MSRTC chairman and managing director Deepak Kapoor and spokesperson Mukund Dhus refused to respond to repeated calls and text messages. Ashok Jadhav,MSRTC divisional controller,however,said there was an urgent need of CCTVs and metal detectors at all bus-stands in the city. “We had sent the proposal last year. After blasts last week,we have sent a reminder to the higher authorities,” said Jadhav.

CR spokesperson Y K Singh said,“Investigators checked footage from CCTV cameras installed on the railway premises. We have 36 CCTVs and all are functional. The investigators did not complain about footage quality.”