Tamil Nadu equips 1,071 police stations to store CCTV footage for 18 months

Tamil Nadu has completed work to extend CCTV footage retention to 18 months in 1,071 of its 2,100 police stations, Director General of Police and Head of Police Force Mahesh Kumar Agarwal has told the Madras High Court.

In a status report placed before Justice V. Lakshminarayanan, the police chief said the installation of cameras with extended storage was being carried out in phases across the State. Each police station is being fitted with six Internet Protocol cameras equipped with night vision, audio and video recording, and storage facilities.

The cameras cover key locations within a station, including the reception, the verandah or police station hall, the Inspector's cabin, the Sub Inspector's cabin, the lock-up room and the writer's desk.

The report was filed after the judge sought an explanation on whether all police stations in the State were retaining CCTV footage for 18 months, as required by a Supreme Court directive. Assistant Inspector General of Police L. Balaji Saravanan submitted the report on behalf of the DGP, setting out the steps taken so far.

Of the State's 2,100 police stations, 1,362 are law and order stations, 244 are all women police stations, 47 are railway police stations and 447 are special units that register First Information Reports. CCTV surveillance systems were installed in 1,624 stations between 2013 and 2022, but the digital video recorders in those facilities could store footage for only 15 to 45 days.

Following the Supreme Court's 2021 direction to retain footage for 18 months, the State government sanctioned funds in December 2024 to enhance storage capacity in 1,567 police stations. Work was completed in 1,071 stations during the 2025-26 financial year, and the contract for 507 more stations is to be awarded shortly.

New CCTV systems, including enhanced storage, will also be installed in 476 police stations and FIR-registering special units. These include offices of the Prohibition and Enforcement Wing, the Economic Offences Wing, Civil Supplies-CID, the Coastal Security Group, Crime Branch-CID, the Narcotics Intelligence Bureau CID, the Q branch and the Central Crime Branch.

The work is being executed through the Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu. The tender process is at an advanced stage and nearing finalisation, and the selected vendor will be required to complete the work within two months of the contract being awarded.

The court had called for the report after senior counsel R. Shunmugasundaram, assisted by advocate Shakeena Abdul Gafoor, complained that the Vigilance and Anti Corruption office in Coimbatore was not maintaining its CCTV footage for 18 months. The DGP told the court that the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti Corruption does not function under him and falls under the Human Resources Management department.

When Additional Public Prosecutor Arun Anbumani said the DVAC was awaiting sanction of funds to enhance CCTV storage capacity in its offices across the State, the judge sought a report within a week from the HRM Secretary explaining the delay in sanctioning the funds.