1,071 out of 2,100 police stations in Tamil Nadu have been equipped to retain their CCTV footage for 18 months, T.N. DGP tells Madras High Court

Tamil Nadu Director General of Police/Head of Police Force (DGP/HoPF) Mahesh Kumar Agarwal on Thursday (September 10, 2026) informed the Madras High Court of having commenced in a phased manner the process of installation of CCTV cameras, with facilities to retain the footage for 18 months, in 2,100 police stations across the State. The work had been completed so far in 1,071 police stations.

In a status report filed before Justice V. Lakshminarayanan, the DGP said, every police station was being equipped with six Internet Protocol (IP) cameras with night vision, audio and video recording and storage facility. The cameras were being installed covering vital locations such as the reception, verandah/police station hall, Inspector’s cabin, Sub Inspector’s cabin, lock up room, writer’s desk and so on.

The report was filed pursuant to a direction issued by the judge last week to explain whether all police stations in the State were retaining their CCTV footage for 18 months as per a Supreme Court directive. Accordingly, filing the report on behalf of the DGP, Assistant Inspector General of Police L. Balaji Saravanan listed out the steps taken so far by the Police department to comply with the top court’s directions.

He said, Tamil Nadu had 2,100 police stations which included 1,362 Law and Order police stations, 244 All Women Police Stations, 47 Railway police stations and 447 special units that register First Information Reports. Of them, CCTV surveillance systems were installed in 1,624 police stations between 2013 and 2022. However, the storage capacity of the digital video recorders was only between 15 and 45 days.

After the Supreme Court’s 2021 directive to retain the footage for 18 months, the State government accorded financial sanction in December 2024 for enhancing the storage capacity in 1,567 police stations and the work was completed in 1,071 police stations in the financial year 2025-26. The contract for executing the work in 507 more police stations would be awarded soon, the court was told.

In addition, new CCTV surveillance systems including enhancement of storage capacity would be installed in 476 police stations and FIR registering special units which would include offices of the Prohibition and Enforcement Wing, Economic Offences Wing, Civil Supplies-CID, Coastal Security Group, Crime Branch-CID, Narcotics Intelligence Bureau CID, Q branch, Central Crime Branch and so on.

“The above CCTV-related works are being undertaken through ELCOT (Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu). The tender process is currently at an advanced stage and is nearing finalisation/award of contract to the successful vendor. After award of the contract, the vendor is required to execute and complete the work within a period of two months,” the status report read.

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

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