MUMBAI: A major problem that the
police face in tracking down criminals is the poor quality of
CCTV footage, the
serial molester case being the latest example.
While the police were in possession of CCTV grabs, they were unable to zoom in on the paedophile’s face.
The D N Nagar police arrested the accused,
Aiyyaz Ansari, on Wednesday with the help of a sketch and he confessed to have sexually assaulted more then 23 girls during the last two years.
There were 13 sexual offence cases registered against him and the police had CCTV footage showing the accused. “It didn’t help us in establishing the accused’s identity. Ansari went on committing sexual offences till his arrest,” said a source.
“Ansari’s face was not clear in the footage. Hence we sought assistance of artists to get a sketch of the accused. Since they were not very accurate, police chief Rakesh Maria asked woman officers to visit the victims again and talk to them about the accused again,” said a police officer.
Based on the inputs, the police prepared new sketches that closely matched with the accused. The police distributed the new drawings among informers and it subsequently led to Ansari’s arrest. “I got Ansari’s description from the victims and as his face was not clearly visible in the footage,” said sketch artist Nitin Yadav.
He then drew over 5 different sketches of the accused and there were some variations in each drawing. “CCTV cameras used are outdated and it rarely helps us during investigation,” said an officer.