Toll gates to have plate recognition cameras

The Sindh cabinet on Thursday approved Rs1.567 billion for the installation of automatic number plate recognition cameras (ANPR) at toll plazas.

The cabinet also approved head money at the rate of Rs500,000 each for proclaimed offenders wanted in murder and kidnapping for ransom cases, and Rs200,000 each for outlaws involved in dacoity and police encounters. The maximum bounty for any robber would be Rs10 million, the meeting concurred.

The cabinet meeting, held with Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah in the chair at CM House, was attended by provincial ministers, advisors, special assistants, chief secretary and other officers.

Sindh home department officials informed the cabinet that the government has decided to install automatic number plate recognition cameras (ANPR) at all the entry and exit points of toll plazas across the province.

The ANPR cameras will capture images of the registration number plates of vehicles and front seat passengers. The images captured will be transmitted to the central monitoring control room at Central Police Office in real-time.

The cameras will read characters on number plates to identify vehicles and AI Face Recognition features will identify the passengers.

The cabinet meeting that continued for more than two hours was informed that the project would help identify stolen vehicles and hit-and-run cases. It would also detect and prevent terrorist activities by providing early warning of suspicious vehicles and persons entering any city.

The chief minister said that the scheme for the installation of these cameras at toll plazas would cost Rs1.567 billion.

“I am ready to arrange funds if the cabinet approved the project,” he said.

After long deliberations, the cabinet approved the project, and the chief minister directed the chief secretary to immediately hire a consultant and award the contract within a month.

Bounty on dacoits

During the meeting, the Home Secretary Saeed Mangnijo briefed the cabinet members about head money on notorious criminals and said that a committee headed by a DIG rank officer would give proposals for awards based on the nature of crimes, and the number of FIRs against offenders.

He added that the IG police reviewed the project and endorsed it and sent it to the home department.

The cabinet was told that once the criminal was arrested or killed, the police department would move a note for the claim of the announced reward, and the approved amount will be released.

Giving an example, the home secretary said that Rs20 million head money was proposed for a criminal of Ghotki district involved in murder and kidnapping cases, while Rs10 million was recommended for a criminal operating in Shikarpur.

The CM proposed to place a cap on cash reward for cases where head money for heinous criminals has to be paid. This proposal will cover the lacunae in the available policy.

The home department proposed Rs500,000 each for criminals involved in murder and kidnapping for ransom, and Rs200,000 each for dacoity and police encounter. The department also proposed Rs10 million maximum amount which the cabinet approved after discussion.