Diplomatic zone under stronger surveillance

Law enforcers will now be immediately alerted to any suspicious gathering or movement of individuals and any unusual incident in the capital's diplomatic zone under a new surveillance system.

Monitors of customised closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras will blink whenever such an incident takes place.

The system, jointly initiated by the local residents and police, ensures foolproof security in major portions of Gulshan, Baridhara, Niketon, Banani and surrounding areas.

Around 700 cameras of 3-16 mega pixels have already been set up as part of a massive plan to bring the whole Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) under this security system, said police and community leaders said.

"The whole diplomatic area is now under the foolproof surveillance system," said Rafiqul Islam, assistant commissioner (AC) of Gulshan Zone, who is coordinating the task from Dhaka Metropolitan Police.

“Soon 500 more high-powered cameras will be installed,” he said, adding they had already spent around Tk 15 crore provided by locals and private organisations.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to inaugurate the modern video management surveillance system at Gulshan-2 tomorrow.

In case of any accident, the cameras will capture images with special focus and will also alert police through customised signals if there is any mass gathering or presence of any suspicious individual in specified areas like banks or shopping malls, said a DMP official linked with the installation of the technology. 

A good number of cameras were set up on some important roads including Abdullahpur to Sonargaon crossing, Rampura Bridge and Hatirjheel and in areas like Tejgaon truck stand, Karwan Bazar, Mohakhali and Gabtoli bus terminal, police said.   

The project was initiated by Law and Order Coordination Committee (LOCC), a platform of locals and police, and Gulshan police in 2014. The project, assisted by DNCC and local community organisations, gained pace after Italian aid worker Cesare Tavella was shot dead at Gulshan 2 in September last year.

Police claimed to have identified his killers using footage of one of the 130 CCTV cameras, installed in Gulshan area in 2015 as part of the project.

Sources in DMP said the system's server was connected by optical fibres, and it had the capacity to centrally store footage of around two months. Moreover, each camera has individual storage capacity and can preserve footage for two days, they said. 

"The cameras have the capacity of three hours' backup in case of power cuts and will give clear images even in foggy weather," claimed an official.

Some cameras set up at exit and entry points of the diplomatic zone will read vehicles' number plates and store the information.

"It will bring a drastic change and help police detect criminals," said AC Rafiqul. Three to four policemen will monitor the cameras round the clock.

Lawmaker AKM Rahmatullah, also chief coordinator of LOCC, told The Daily Star, "We have commitments of a total of Tk 25 crore, and it will enable us to set up 3,000 CCTV cameras.

The residents of DNCC will feel safer under the surveillance system, said Ataul Kibria, deputy commissioner of Diplomatic Security Division of DMP.