How Vasco with defunct cams became a haven for criminals

52 CCTV cameras at strategic junctions are just relics on electricity poles

- VIKRAM NAYAK

When masked intruders stormed into the Baina residence of distributor Sagar Nayak on November 18 and executed one of the most violent dacoities the port town has seen in years, Vasco reacted with shock. But beneath the fear, a second, sharper realisation followed — swiftly — the city had once again walked into a major crime with its eyes shut.

For over 10 years, Vasco has functioned with a dead surveillance network. Fifty-two CCTV cameras installed at the city’s most Strategic junctions have remained silent relics on electric poles, watching nothing, recording nothing, and deterring no one.