4,750 new ‘night vision’ CCTV cameras for Tihar

NEWDELHI:TIHAR Jail, the largest prison in the country, is set to get a major video surveillance overhaul as officials said they will increase the number of CCTV cameras in the complex by more than five times. From 942 cameras, the jail is set to get 5,692 night vision cameras within 10 months, officials said.

Last month, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal approved the ₹120-crore project for the modernisation of video surveillance inside the prison.

Jail officers said there would be no blind spot left inside the 400-acre complex once it gets the proposed addition of 4,750 new cameras.

“There will be mix of pan tilt zoom, dome and bullet cameras. This will be the first time all cameras will have facility of night vision. They will help in preventing any unlawful activity inside the prison and will also help monitor every single activity inside,” a prison spokesperson said.

At 15,892 inmates, the prison in west Delhi is the most overcrowded jail in India and houses some of the most high profile inmates including gangster Chhota Rajan, former parliamentarian Shahbuddin, Indian Mujahideen founder Yasin Bhatkal and VVIP chopper deal middleman Christian Michel.

In February last year, the Delhi High Court pulled up jail authorities when the latter failed to present CCTV footage that showed an alleged assault on prisoners by officials in Jail 1 on November 21, 2017. Officials had told the court that CCTV cameras were “non-functional.”

A senior prison officer said that the recording of all the 5,692 cameras would be placed at the jail and the prison headquarters.

According to the project report, the CCTV system is such that even if the management server goes offline, the recording would not get affected.

“The cameras will have video analytical feature. The storage facility will be such that it can save footage of 30 days and that too at two separate locations. This ensures that the footage cannot be tampered or lost because of technical glitches,” said an official from state home department, who did not wish to be identified.