Sparse CCTV coverage on Tumakuru Road delays fatal accident probes

Bengaluru: The absence of sufficient CCTV cameras on Tumakuru Road is hampering efforts by the traffic police to trace vehicles involved in road accidents, particularly fatal ones.

This concern was raised by officers stationed along the stretch after two fatal hit-and-run cases occurred within six hours on the same road.

In the first incident, a 19-year-old named Ajay, an employee at a private firm in Bengaluru and a resident of Laggere, was killed when a vehicle struck him and fled near Hesaraghatta Cross around 8 pm on Thursday. Ajay, originally from Amaravati, succumbed to his injuries at the scene.

Six hours later, around 2 am on Friday, Basavaraju, a 37-year-old daily wage worker sleeping under a parked goods vehicle in a layby near the Parle G toll, was fatally run over when the driver started the vehicle and sped off. The police have yet to identify the vehicle.

"After the toll, there are not enough cameras on NH-4 at regular intervals, making it difficult to track such incidents, which occur almost daily. It is a national highway with thousands of vehicles passing through every day," said an officer from the Peenya traffic police station.

A senior police officer from the north division added that poor lighting, especially along the service road beyond the toll, compounds the problem. “While some cameras are installed, they are few and far between. We have raised this issue multiple times with the NHAI, and they have agreed to look into it,” the officer said.

Mysuru Road accident 

On Mysuru Road, a private bus struck a pedestrian standing at a bus stop in front of the KSRTC bus depot 5 near BHEL on Thursday afternoon.

Khatheja Banu (59) sustained severe injuries to both legs and was taken to the Sanjay Gandhi Institute of Trauma and Orthopaedics, where she was declared dead around 2.15 pm.

The Byatarayanapura traffic police have filed a case against the bus driver.