Lack of proper street lighting in Dehradun is becoming a problem for the District police in conducting investigations and proper patrolling. In the recent Samarjahan murder case, the area where the deceased was shot in the dark had no light because of which the eye witnesses were not able to correctly identify even the colour of the car that was used by the shooters.
Though, police cracked the case and arrested the culprits, the investigation would have been completed sooner had the street lights been installed properly. Similarly, in the recent case of a jeweller who was shot and looted at night in Rishikesh, police are facing difficulties in the probe as the scene of crime lacks street lights.
Taking cognisance of this issue, Dehradun Senior Superintendent of Police is going to write letters to the departments concerned.
SSP Nivedita Kukreti said, “We are identifying such stretches of roads and will then send letters to the departments concerned. We sent a letter on the same issue earlier in 2017 too but the immediate result was not as fruitful.”
According to police sources, while patrolling in the night they have found areas where even the street lights that are installed are not working properly.
The entire GMS Road, areas of Clement Town and Old Mussoorie Road are some places that lack proper street lights. This makes it difficult for the police to get a clear picture even through CCTV in case of crimes on the road during the night. Lack of inter-departmental coordination is stated to be one of the reasons for this issue.