Police rue lack of CCTV in Zaira case

Absence of a close circuit television (CCTV) camera inside the Vistara flight, in which a 17-year-old actress alleged that she was molested, has made it difficult for the police to provide technical evidence in their case.

"CCTVs play an important role in the aircraft and are most crucial in case of any hijack situation. CCTVs inside the flight that could have given us technical help in this case. There is nothing to recover from the arrested person in the case, hence we will take a call on whether further police custody is required or not. We will wrap up the case fast and will submit the charge sheet in court," a police officer said.

Vikas Sachdeva, 39, who has been arrested by the Sahar police on charges of allegedly molesting the minor actress, has not denied the incident, but claimed that it happened by "mistake", police sources said.

An aviation industry official, meanwhile, said, "There is no mandatory provision for installation of CCTV inside an aircraft to keep surveillance on the passengers,"

Explaining the use of CCTVs inside an aircraft, the official said, "Only one CCTV is installed at the gate of the cockpit, which is used by the pilot to keep track on the identity of the person trying to enter the cockpit and to check suspicious movements. In case of any problem in the passenger area, the crew members are trained to handle the situation. Only in cases when the situation turns uncontrollable and requires interference from the pilot, he/she is informed by the crew."