Two Dutch nationals turned up at the Tourist police recently, claiming to have been robbed of their valuables as they walked out of a leading fashion store near the Town Hall in Colombo 7.
Among the items they claimed lost were a Nikon Camera, US$ 1,000 and the purchases they made from Odel.
Two days later, they returned to the Police to inquire about the progress made on their complaint, and expressed their displeasure at the failure to apprehend those responsible.
The investigating officer told them that the particular area was under surveillance of Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras which had been introduced in important locations in Colombo and its suburbs. They said they were analysing the footage to identify the culprits.
In a surprise turn around of events, the tourists said there was no necessity to proceed with the investigations, and left the country the following day.
The related CCTV footage showed the tourists walking into Odel empty-handed, and a little while later, return empty-handed. They stayed on for about 10 minutes, and then start walking away.
Police believe that the two Dutch nationals were trying to obtain a police report, in an apparent attempt to make an insurance claim. “If they were successful, it would have reflected badly on the country, giving the impression that people are mugged in broad daylight within Colombo city,” Superintendent of Police (SP) Ajith Rohana told the Sunday Times.
This was among some 4,000 cases for which the CCTV footage obtained by over 100 cameras set up in more than 25 locations, in and around the Colombo city, became operational and found to be useful to resolve crimes, arrest wanted persons or find lost articles.
The round-the-clock operation is being watched by a team of police officials, to take prompt action as the need arises.
In another recent case, the CCTV footage showed a bag of a passenger boarding a bus near Thunmulla junction falling to the ground. Minutes after the bag fell off, the footage from the CCTV camera at Thunmulla junction, showed a garbage collector picking up the bag, opening it, taking its contents and stuffing them in his pocket. The officer monitoring the footage got a radio message passed on to a traffic policeman on duty there.
The footage goes on to show the Traffic Police officer apprehending the garbage collector, retrieving the stolen items which included a mobile phone, important documents and cash, and returning them with the bag to the owner, when he later came looking for it.
In a similar case, a resident of Homagama, scheduled to leave for foreign employment, was travelling in a three-wheeler, when he got the driver to stop close to an Automated Teller Machine, and got off, leaving behind his documents including his passport bearing the stamped visa and 2,000 Euros.
The three-wheeler driver had taken off, leaving the passenger stranded. He rushed to the Colombo Fort Police and lodged a complaint.
The police were able to go through the relevant CCTV footage and detect the three-wheeler and arrest the driver.
Director, Police CCTV Division, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) T.P. Gamlath, an Electronic Engineer, heads the division.
| The two Dutchmen who were caught on camera |
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The CCTV footage was helpful in detecting some 3,447 traffic offences in the past year, and arrest offenders in some 660 cases in which injuries or damage to property had been caused.
There were 80 cases in which items had been recovered with the help of the CCTV footage, while in nine other cases suspicious persons were identified through the footage. In 25 cases they were able to give technical support to solve crimes. Three criminal cases too were solved with the help of this footage.
Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Gamini Nawaratna said that new features are to be added to the CCTV system under a concept of the IGP N.K. Illangakoon.
Among the new features will be the automatic saving of the number plate, which could be helpful to identify vehicles involved in crimes or accidents. The cameras have the ability to capture images of the number plate of vehicles traveling at high speeds and in poor visibility. The images will be stored in a database for future analysis.
The police hope to link up with the Registrar of Motor Vehicles’ database.
The other feature would be the addition of software to detect facial features. The unit will link up with the Criminal Investigations Department, Terrorism Investigations Department and the Criminal Records Division, to feed pictures of suspects into the database.
The system will automatically indicate if a wanted person is within city limits.
A mobile monitoring operation is to be set up with the introduction of three specially equipped vehicles with a view to expanding the scope and range of the CCTV unit. |
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