Mangaluru : The city police have mapped religious institutions that have not installed CCTV cameras and have asked them to install it by the end of March. Deputy Commissioner A.B. Ibrahim has also written to such institutions, according to Police Commissioner S. Murugan

Speaking to reporters here on Tuesday, Mr. Murugan said they had found that some cameras installed were of poor quality and there was poor lighting around religious places.

He said the police had given technical specifications of the cameras that need to be installed.

“There will be an increase of cost by a few thousand rupees, but this helps in preventing any attacks,” he said.

Mr. Murugan said the process was on to install 20 CCTV cameras at different locations in the city.

Tenders had been floated and these will be installed in the next few weeks. The Mangaluru City Corporation was giving financial assistance to install these CCTV cameras, he said.

They have also proposed installing around 150 CCTV cameras at a cost of Rs. 2 crore in the jurisdiction of the Commissionerate, spreading up to Moodbidri, Mulky and Ullal.

Footage from around 300 cameras installed during the Samajotsava helped not only in maintaining law and order but also came handy in detection of crime.

“The footage was really useful for us,” said Mr. Murugan, but refused to elaborate on the cases that were detected.

William Menezes, the Public Relations Officer of Mangalore Diocese, said in response to directives by the police the Mangalore Bishop has written to all parish priests and institutions coming under the Diocese to install CCTV cameras.

“Many of the churches have already installed it,” he said.