Hyderabad: It’s been more than six years, since the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) threw the Kishanbagh Park open to the public, but the authorities concerned have yet to install a closed circuit in and around the recreational spot.
The park was inaugurated in the year 2018 by the then minister for MAUD, K T Rama Rao. Since then there has been a demand for installing closed circuit cameras to enhance the security around the park.
“On Sunday two to three thousand people visit the park and on normal days around 300 to 500 people come. We requested the authorities to install the closed circuit cameras but our pleas went unheeded so far,” complained a resident of Asad Baba Nagar, Abdul Riyaz.
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To prevent the mischievous elements the residents staying in the backside of the park had installed cameras in their localities. Inside the park and at the main gate there are no closed-circuit cameras. “Due to absence there is always fear in the visitors about the safety of children and women. Vagabonds move around sometimes in the park,” complained another Hyderabad resident Junaid Ahmed.
The Hyderabad police on numerous occasions requested the GHMC authorities to install cameras in the park to ensure the safety of the people. The police had informed the GHMC that the park is spread over a vast area and there are several neighbourhoods adjoining the park. Several families visit during the evenings while a couple of hundred people come for a morning walk every day.
In December last year (2023), an 18-month-old girl was kidnapped by two women from Kishanbagh. The infant was rescued by the police and two women Naseem Begum, 62, of Kishanbagh and her daughter, Ayesha Begum, 32, of Nawab Sahab Kunta were arrested.
The child, Saleha, daughter of Mohd Shafeeq and resident of Langer Houz a suburb in Hyderabad, had gone to Kishanbagh Park along with her relatives who had gathered for a family function on Sunday. While the child was entering the park along with other children, Naseem kidnapped the girl and escaped from the place.
The Hyderabad police faced a tough time as there were no closed-circuit cameras installed at the park. The police then took the help of the footage of private cameras installed around and rescued the child after identifying the kidnappers.
