Even after installing closed circuit television cameras and improving the presence of guards, incidents of vehicle thefts have not decreased on the premises of the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital. Bystanders and visitors to the hospital are the main victims of the increasing number of vehicle lifting cases.
The police too are in a fix with the strange increase in the number of theft cases, mostly motorbikes, in the area. In some of the recent incidents, the suspects have been found covering their faces to evade surveillance cameras. Complaints have also come up against the quality of some of the surveillance cameras.
Though the police claim that vehicles that are parked in a careless manner or even with keys are mostly targeted, the traders in the area argue that there have been many incidents in which locked vehicles were stolen. There is no clue yet in many cases involving people from even neighbouring districts, they said.
“It is not just vehicles but valuables of patients and bystanders have also been stolen recently. People are really wondering how thieves make their entry into the hospital even as authorities claim about high-security arrangements,” said Prasana Vayalil, an Eranhikkal native who was recently in the Medical College as a bystander. She said the lack of facilities to keep valuables safe was troubling many in the hospital.
Though there have been complaints against suspicious presence of ‘robbers as bystanders’, the police are yet to get any evidence. They point out that micro monitoring of all bystanders and patients will not be a possible exercise. At the same time, the security personnel at the MCH claim that it will be tough for anyone to bypass the heightened-screening measures in the wake of increasing incidents of thefts.
