Chennai
The Madras High Court has directed the Tamil Nadu Director General of Police (DGP) to file a report explaining how long CCTV footage from police stations across the state is preserved.
The direction came up during proceedings linked to a bribery complaint. A man named Sakthivel from North Malliyakarai in Salem district alleged that he was asked to pay Rs 15,000 as a bribe for being allowed to transport ration rice, and he approached the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) wing.
Following the complaint, DVAC registered a case and is investigating Civil Supplies CID Inspector Ramarajan and Assistant Inspectors Saravanakumar and Ramakrishnan.
In the matter, Assistant Inspector Saravanakumar moved the High Court seeking preservation of mobile phone records used by the complainant and his mother, as well as CCTV footage from the Salem DVAC office, stating it was necessary to bring out the truth.
When the case was heard before Justice V. Lakshminarayanan, DVAC informed the court that only 15 days of CCTV footage was available. The petitioner’s side argued that the Supreme Court had directed CCTV footage in police stations to be preserved for 18 months, and questioned why only 15 days of records were being maintained. The judge sought an explanation and posted the matter to the 10th.
