Title - Inferior cams give cops a tough time

KOZHIKODE: Low-quality footages produced by the closed circuit television cameras installed at Kozhikode railway station under the integrated security system (ISS) is giving tough time to police officials.

Vague images lacking clarity captured on the cameras make it a herculean task for the cops to identify the persons behind cases registered with the railway police.

"We get the image of the culprit from the camera but the visuals are so vague that we have to toil for days to locate the person," said an official with the railway police, who did not want to be identified.

While referring to an arrest recorded by the railway police a week ago with the help of the CCTV footage, the official said that they had to depend 'unnecessarily' on an outside agency for identifying the culprit.

"On zooming the visual, we get a vague image which is hardly identifiable," said the official. "If the visuals were clear we could have identified the persons easily. The railways have already spent nearly Rs 4 crore for ISS in three stations and it would have been better if they chose good quality cameras for the purpose," he said.

The surveillance cameras were installed a couple of months ago under the introduction of the ISS in Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulum and Kozhikode railway station. While the total number of cameras allotted for Kozhikode railway station was 50, only 28 have been installed so far at different parts of the station.

Reservation counters, platforms, waiting rooms and all other crowded locations at the railway station were brought under camera surveillance to keep tab on passengers and for tracing the persons involved in criminal activities in railway stations.

Meanwhile, an official with railway protection force who is responsible for the operation and maintenance of the ISS claimed that the cameras were of high resolution. But lacked clarity for the footage owing to the absence of proper lighting inside the waiting room and platform, he added.