Patna, Oct. 17: Unfulfilled promises made by state police have started to pinch not only the residents but also the cops who are drawing flak for the deteriorating law and order in the state capital.

Installation of closed-circuit cameras on Patna roads, an ambitious project announced on March 29 this year, is yet to see the light of day. The plan, if implemented in time, would have assisted police in cracking a number recent criminal incidents that occurred on busy thoroughfares.

Patna police are yet to arrest the two youths who molested a college student and beat up her father at the Income Tax roundabout on October 13, thanks to the delay in identification of the accused.

Other crimes like chain snatching are also on the rise, thanks to the absence of CCTV cameras in Patna. On March 29 this year, Patna police had announced that 10 CCTV cameras would be installed at major roundabouts of the state capital, including the Income Tax roundabout.

“The plan was announced in March but it is still on papers. If at all the CCTV cameras had been installed at Income Tax roundabout, everything would have been recorded and the police’s investigation would have become much easier. The duo would have been nabbed by now. But things have not gone according to plan,” a police officer told The Telegraph on condition of anonymity.

March this year had seen yet another announcement by police to install at least 28 state-of-the-art CCTV cameras in as many locations of the state capital. The idea was to keep an eye on the traffic flow at these spots at different hours of the day. Today, even as the traffic police struggle to manage the traffic movement, the plan gathers dust in office files of state police.

Had the plan been implemented, not just the policemen but also the commuters would have benefited from them, said the police officer.

Also, if cameras were installed at important areas like the Secretariat and Patna High Court, security arrangements would have received a major boost. “In September this year, an incident of eve-teasing had been reported near Boring Road. Policemen, present at the spot, were quick to arrest the two eve-teasers. The roundabout is one of the locations where the CCTV camera was supposed to be installed. If the men had escaped somehow, catching them would have been next to impossible,” the officer pointed out.

Patna senior superintendent of police Alok Kumar said the plans were in place. “The police will have to find out the latest status of the projects. But the plans are in place,” he said.