Church Street blast: Police have very little to complain about

In most cases of terror attacks, the probe agencies have struggled at first due to the want of CCTV footage. However in the case of the Church Street blast case, the police have not much to complain and they would be able to track down the suspects as there were ample cameras in the area.

The CCTV footage is being scrutinized at the moment and the police say that barring the one camera facing the road placed at the Coconut Grove Hotel the rest of the cameras were working just fine. [Church Street blast: As it happened]

CCTV coverage on Church Street

The Church Street area is considered to be a food paradise and there are over 60 restaurants in this area. At any given time there is a huge crowd in this area and this automatically makes it a vulnerable area.

The police say that all establishments in the area have CCTVs installed. There are at least 18 camera which face the road and this would mean that they are able to get the footage of the entire stretch.

In the instant case, the police have clear footage that was provided by a camera from the Amoeba bar. However the one drawback is that the CCTV camera meant to face the road installed at the Coconut Grove Hotel was not working and the police even pulled up the owner for the same last night.

The density and lighting

On this count too the police have not much to complain about. Church Street is a well lit up area and the area at which the blast took place has a lot of lighting as there are several hotels over there.

The only drawback however is the one stretch 100 metres away from the Brigade Road connecting Church street. This area has offices in it and as they are closed at night the lighting over here is questionable. Had the blast occurred on this part of the street then the CCTV imagery would have been blurry and the police would have had trouble during their investigation.

Cops have nothing much to complain about

The police in this case just need to do their job and they can have their case solved soon. The reaction to the attack was quick and several teams have already fanned out into various states to get more leads.

The argument can be about deterrence against Terror. Can give example of New York Times Square blast attempt - how they were able to piece together his movements using CCTV footage in the commercial district across multiple zones. They could in fact take a cue from the investigation conducted in the New York Times Square attack.

After the attack at Times Square, the police were quick to analyse the CCTV footage. They had ample material on camera and it was very easy for them to ascertain the description of the attacker.

The footage and the accounts by eye witnesses coordinated with quick intelligence led the police to find their man Shahzad. On further investigation it was found that he worked by himself which led to the US calling him a lone wolf.

The will to crack the case

The Bangalore police would do well if they just rely on the information and technology that they have with them. The police were very quick to reach the spot and this ensured that the evidence was not lost. Normally the people tend to move the evidence around and this results in destruction of crucial evidence.

The police have managed to preserve the evidence and this has helped the forensics a great deal. In addition to this they also have ample CCTV footage on them.

Now what remains is that a serious investigation and not a lazy one is carried out. The Bangalore police needs to coordinate with the NIA and also the central agencies and not make this as an ego issue like what we saw in West Bengal.

In this case there is a good chance that the terrorists would have come from other states and hence coordination would be the key. Using the available technology and good coordination will not lead only lead to cracking the case but also act as a deterrent.