Calcutta, Dec. 29: Police will soon be out on the prowl — capturing video footage.
The director-general of police, Naparajit Mukherjee, has issued an order asking officers in charge (OC) of police stations to make arrangements for videographing all major political rallies and processions in their areas.
Instances of clashes and political violence will also have to be recorded, the order, sent to all district police chiefs, says.
The order says all OCs will be given digital cameras. The squads posted at political events and at the site of clashes will have to record live proceedings so that they can later be used as evidence.
“The recordings will cover all aspects concerning law and order in a particular area,” S.N. Gupta, the deputy inspector-general (Presidency Range), said. He, however, refused to divulge further details.
Several top police officers said Mukherjee’s order was aimed at keeping records of vital information so that they could be used while probing cases of political violence and other crimes.
“Video footage of such events will help investigating officers ascertain the root of a trouble more easily and get an idea about those involved in a crime,” said a senior officer at Writers’ Buildings.
“While investigating a political clash, it becomes difficult to identify the cause of the tension and those involved because of lack of visual evidence. If such instances are recorded, the police’s job will become much easier,” the officer added.
Mukherjee’s order lays thrust on North and South 24-Parganas as these districts have been witness to several political clashes in the recent past.
In view of next year’s Assembly elections, these two districts also assume much political significance. In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, Trinamul had won all 11 seats in the two Parganas.
A senior CPM leader said several “key party leaders are from these districts”. The leader said that in the run-up to the Assembly polls, “these two districts are bound to witness fierce political clashes”. “Be it Canning in South 24-Parganas or Rajarhat in North 24-Parganas, these districts are politically important,” he added.
State intelligence officials said the video footage would be crucial in identifying Maoists secretly attending political meetings. “We can keep tabs on the rebels if we have video footage of them attending public meetings and rallies,” an intelligence official said.
Senior intelligence officials said several People’s Committee activists had attended Mamata Banerjee’s Lalgarh rally on August 9. But because of the lack of any video-recording of the event on the part of the police, the rebels could not be identified.
However, several police officers pointed out that the forces in many districts lacked infrastructure to either preserve the recordings — in the form of CDs and cassettes — or cataloguing them.
No comments:
Post a Comment