Law college needs at least 122 CCTV cameras: PWD

Kolkata: The law college in south Kolkata where a student was raped last June, requires at least 122 CCTV cameras for total surveillance of the building, recommended the Public Works Department team. The number may vary after a thorough inspection, which is likely to be held at the end of this week.After the final list is prepared, the college will have to write to the higher education dept for fund allocation. A college official said, "We estimated that around 77 CCTV cameras were required to cover the entire building, but the PWD officials identified more areas that needed to be covered, such as a portion beside the stairs and a storeroom on the roof, which were not in our previous list." After the final visit, the college will send another appeal to the higher education department seeking funds.
Earlier, the college sent a request for Rs 12 lakh to install CCTV cameras. After receiving the final nod from the finance department, a PWD team visited the college and found that more CCTV cameras were required. Nayna Chatterji, the vice principal of the college, said, "The installation of CCTV cameras is very important for safety and security on the campus. We are following govt instructions for this purpose."A first-year student was gang-raped on the college premises. The key accused, Monojit Mishra, is a former student and a casual staffer of the college. Two co-accused — Pramit Mukherjee, a second-year student, and Zaib Ahmed, a first-year student — were also arrested. Pinaki Banerjee, a private security guard, was arrested but later got bail.The college had only three CCTV cameras at the college gate, but after this incident, the governing body decided to install more cameras to strengthen surveillance.