Locals offer to sponsor as many as 50 CCTVs

Five days after another little girl was found murdered in the area, troubled Cuffe Parade residents have requested the police to secure the area by putting up as many CCTVs as required.

The proposal was made during a meeting held on Monday between the police, residents of the area and representatives of the Machimar Nagar colony. Held at the insistence of the police, the meet was held at Cuffe Parade Residents Association (CPRA) office site and was attended by senior police officials of the Cuffe Parade police, though the assistant commissioner of police and the deputy commissioner of police could not make it.

“As per our estimates, nearly 25-30 CCTVs will be needed. If the police want 50 of them, we’ll put up as many, but the monitoring must be done by them. Thanks to a very active residents association, we have the resources and the willingness to pitch in, with one sponsor ready to bear the entire expense of the cameras,” said Ashok Kanwar, the CPRA president.

Inspector Parag Jadhav of the Cuffe Parade police said, “The issue will be discussed with the senior inspectors, while the residents can give them their proposal along with other demands”, which include increased patrolling and police visibility, the removal of drug addicts, exploring the ‘black magicians’ angle and increasing the number of Friends of Police in the area.

The police, too, demanded that alert residents “look at the surroundings with the eyes of an investigating officer”. “Unlike professional criminals, who strike regularly to commit a crime, this one seems to be a work of a psychopath,” added Jadhav.