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No CCTV; scanners did not work

Last Updated 07 September 2011, 19:24 IST

Gate No 5 had no CCTV cameras despite around nearly 2,000 litigants gather there to get passes to enter the court premises in a day.

Sources said immediately after the May 25 low intensity blast outside the high court, Delhi Police had conducted a security audit of the complex and suggested a number of places where the CCTV cameras should be installed.

However, the rigmarole of procedures to install these vital snoop devices were probably the reason that even after more than three months, the CCTVs could not be installed.

“Had the devices been there, they would have given us a raw idea of the sequence of events that took place today,” a senior security official said.

In selecting the Delhi High Court as their target, perpetrators of Wednesday’s blast seem to have been aware that it was a highly vulnerable spot where the highest number of public flocked, where a strike could cause heavy casualties and would also allow the culprits to flee without leaving clues.

The Gate No 5, spot of Wednesday’s tragedy, had no CCTV cameras despite around nearly 2,000 litigants gather there to get passes to enter the court premises in a day.

Official sources said immediately after the May 25 low intensity blast outside the high court, Delhi Police had conducted a security audit of the complex and suggested a number of places where the CCTV cameras should be installed. However, the rigmarole of procedures to install these vital snoop devices were probably the reason that even after more than three months, the CCTVs could not be installed.

"Had the devices been there, they would have given us a raw idea of the sequence of events that took place today," a senior security official said. Sources said once a decision is being taken to install the CCTV cameras, it is the Public Works Department of the Delhi government which is tasked with installing the monitoring devices.

Bar Council of Delhi chairman Rakesh Tiku added that none of the high court's nine gates has any surveillance camera. "This lapse was highlighted in May when a bomb exploded at a parking lot near Gate 7," said Tiku.

The court, which has 35 court halls with around over 1,500 cases taken up for hearing any given day, always brimmed with activity with over 1,000 advocates and litigants twice that number flocking to the massive premises every day.

Of the nine gates of the complex, entrance for judges and advocates are well guarded, with police control room vehicles parked there. However, policemen are not deployed or surveillance cameras were installed at the public entry gate as it was not considered as a vulnerable spot by the police.

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(Published 07 September 2011, 19:24 IST)

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