IN FOCUS: Vidyasagar Setu. A Telegraph picture

Police want advanced cameras to be installed on Vidyasagar Setu (second Hooghly bridge) to keep a closer watch on vehicles leaving or entering the city.

The cameras that are now installed at the toll plaza on the bridge do not yield distinct images, said an officer of the detective department.

The move to boost security on the bridge follows a spurt in car theft and reports that militants from across the border are using the city as a transit point on their way to other parts of the country.

Senior officers have discussed the issue with representatives of the company manning the toll plaza and the Hooghly River Bridge Commissioners (HRBC), the custodian of the bridge.

The HRBC officials are convinced of the need to install sophisticated cameras on the bridge. “If required, the agreement with the company in charge of the toll plaza will be modified. But for that, there has to be unanimity among several departments,” said an HRBC official.

Recently, a car had driven through the gate of the plaza without paying the tax. The image of the car that the plaza camera captured was so hazy that the sleuths could not figure out the registration number.

“Unless we know the number, we cannot find out in which direction the vehicle went after leaving the bridge. An advanced camera would have helped us locate the car,” said an officer.