KOZHIKODE: The fact that a shop owner did not switch off the Closed Circuit TV cameras of his outlet at SM Street in Kozhikode helped the police solve the mystery behind the fire that broke out in 2007, which would otherwise have been registered in police records as a suspected case of fire outbreak caused by some explosives stashed in some rooms.
Earlier, the police team headed by then Assistant Commissioner of Police Debesh Kumar Behera (now SP, Malappuram) failed to collect any evidence as to the cause of the fire.
But later, the blind search of a partially gutted CCTV camera system showed that it was working during the fire outbreak till it caught fire in the blaze.
Noted cyber forensic expert Dr Vinod Namboothirippad, who is associated with the police in the investigation, recollects that luckily, the memory of the system was intact and visuals, though vague, were saved.
“There was a thin spot of light moving and a close watch revealed a blurry figure moving with a light in hand. The light was later identified as a candle, from which police reached the conclusion that the fire was the result of a theft attempt. But the face of the thief was not clear.
“As the branch of image forensics was not that much advanced in India, I suggested the name of Nasir Mammon, a native of Hyderabad, who was heading the department of Image Forensics in New York university,” said Dr Namboothirippad.
“We were groping in the dark over how to get a clearer image of the thief when help came through Mr Namboothirippad which ensured us the help of an international expert in identifying and nabbing the habitual thief,” said Behera.
As the fee for such expertise was too high to be shouldered by the police department, Mr Mammon, being, an Indian national, did the job in his own personal capacity and absolutely free of cost, it is learned.
