Rattled by rising crime, BU to build watchtowers

Wanting to curb crime and to ensure students’ safety inside the Jnanabharati campus, the Bangalore University will raise four watchtowers at strategic locations on its premises.

The watchtowers, to be raised at the four corners, will have high-resolution surveillance cameras. The information available with the Jnanabharati police station limits reveals that at least three criminal incidents are reported from the campus each month.

Varsity authorities made the decision days after the body of an unknown person was discovered in a decomposed condition on the campus. The incident had disturbed the campus environment. Security personnel had also caught a man roaming around the women’s hostel in the early morning hours.

Vice-chancellor K R Venugopal said the 24/7 security at the campus proved to be inadequate. “Criminal incidents are reported on the campus, in which people from outside are involved. We have come up with the idea of building watchtowers to put an end to such incidents,” he said.

He said the watchtowers would also restrict the entry of outsiders. “The public enter the campus in the early morning hours and cut the sandalwood trees. It is difficult for the security personnel to cover every nook and corner of the campus. Watchtowers would solve the problem.”

The watchtowers, which the varsity is planning to build under the corporate social responsibility programme, will have round-the-clock security.