Sindh to install smart surveillance cameras at toll plazas to fight crime

• Surveillance cameras to be installed at exit, entry points of all toll plazas.
• Images will be sent to Central Police Office's monitoring room in real time.
• Cabinet also fixes reward money in different cases involving heinous crimes.

The Sindh government Thursday decided to install automatic numberplate recognition cameras (ANPR) at the entry and exit points of toll plazas across the province to fight crime.

The decision was made during a meeting of the provincial cabinet presided over by Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah. It was attended by provincial ministers, advisors, special assistants, Chief Secretary Sohail Rajput, Chairman Planning and Development Department Hassan Naqvi, Principal Secretary to CM Fayaz Jatoi, and other concerned officers.

During the meeting, the provincial home department informed the cabinet that the smart surveillance cameras would take pictures of cars' number plates and people sitting in the front seats. The cameras would read the numberplates' characters to identify vehicles and use face recognition features to identify the passengers, according to a statement issued after the meeting.

The pictures would be sent to the Central Police Office's central monitoring room in real-time. The home department said the project would help prevent and detect crime by identifying vehicles linked to crimes, including thievery and hit-and-run, and provide early warning of suspicious vehicles entering the city.

The cameras would also have the capacity to identify suspects associated with a particular vehicle by using facial recognition features and tracking their movements.

CM Shah said the project would cost around Rs1.57 billion and he was ready to arrange funds after the cabinet's approval.

He shared that the Sindh Police believed the project should be executed on a government-to-government basis to maintain integrity and security.

Following the cabinet's approval of the project, Shah directed the chief secretary to hire a consultant immediately and award the contract for the project within a month.

Cabinet caps reward money

Separately, Home Secretary Saeed Mangnijo informed the cabinet that a team headed by a DIG-rank official had consolidated proposals for awarding money for arresting or killing criminals involved in heinous crimes.

The inspector general had reviewed and endorsed the project and sent it to the home department, he added.

The cabinet was informed that the police department moved a claim once a criminal had been arrested or killed. However, it was recently noticed that not only was there no cap on the reward money, but there was also no rationalisation of the proposed award in line with the severity of the criminal's actions and the number of first information reports (FIRs) registered against him.

The home secretary cited an example where an award of Rs20 million was recommended for the arrest of a criminal who was involved in a single murder and kidnapping case in Ghotki, while Rs10 million were recommended for the arrest of a criminal involved in 29 murder cases in Shikarpur.

Subsequently, the home department recommended a reward of Rs500,000 for murder and kidnapping for ransom cases and Rs200,000 for dacoities and police encounters.

It also proposed that the reward amount be capped at Rs10 million, which was approved by the cabinet after discussion.

"Taking cognisance of the severity of committed offences/heinous crimes, such as murder, kidnapping for ransom, and police encounters, etc., and in due consideration of the principles of fairness and justice and in due regard of austerity in spending the public money, the chief minister has proposed to place a cap on cash reward for cases where head money for heinous criminals has to be paid. This proposal will cover the lacunae in the available policy," the statement said.