Riddle over number of CCTV cameras

Varying accounts on the number of CCTV cameras installed for keeping the Pahela Baishakh celebrations under watch have caused confusion over the actual police surveillance.

Initially, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police provided journalists with a list detailing the number of cameras and their placement on Dhaka University campus. The DMP said there were 19 CCTV cameras installed around TSC. The Daily Star found 18 of the cameras in the list.
But actually there were 22 cameras installed in that area, said sources in the Information and Communication Technology department at the DMP headquarters on April 21.

The ICT department was responsible for arranging and sorting out power supplies to the cameras.
The revelation adds substance to the allegation that police were trying to cover up the incident of sexual assault on women.
According to witnesses, including Liton Nandi, president of Bangladesh Chhatra Union's Dhaka University chapter, at least one woman was stripped almost naked on the south side of Raju Bhashkarja roundabout.

Liton alleged that the perpetrators groped many women for over an hour from 5:00pm. The worst of the assault was made on the south side of the Raju Bhashkarja roundabout.
He had one of his hands broken while trying to protect several women.
An analysis of the DMP-camera list reveals 17 of the cameras were either watching towards the north side of the Raju Bhashkarja or were set up far away from the place of assault.

From the DMP list, Liton had singled out camera-16, which apparently covered the area where the worst part of the assault took place. Camera-16 was placed on an electric pole right to the Suhrawardy Udyan's entrance, facing southward.
“The discovery that police concealed information regarding CCTV camera proves they are trying to cover up the incident,” said Liton.
Police released the footage of nine cameras on April 17.

A source in the DMP claimed they had the footage from 21 cameras out of 22, as one camera stopped feeding after Asar prayer (afternoon prayer).
“It was never fixed,” the source added.
The latest findings pertaining to the number of cameras were reconfirmed by sources in the ICT department, detective police and DMP's media wing.

The Daily Star grabbed 50 screenshots of women being sexually assaulted from the hour-long footage from camera-5.
The camera-5 covered only a part of the area around the roundabout, particularly its north side.
Contacted, DMP Commissioner Asaduzzaman Miah on April 20 said, “Talk to the media department of police.” He did not give the reporter a chance to ask questions.

The reporter was not given an audience at the DMP boss' office yesterday. Messages sent to his mobile phone went unanswered.
DMP Joint Commissioner Monirul Islam yesterday said he knew that the DMP had had footage from 21 cameras, and that one of the cameras went down on April 14. 

Earlier on April 17, Monirul admitted for the first time that women were sexually assaulted during the celebrations.
Asaduzzaman Miah on April 18 said it is normal that a woman could be touched or pushed in an area filled with thousands of people.
The next day, State Minister for Home Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said he found no evidence of sexual assault on women in the footage.