Navi Mumbai-based journalist Sandhya Jain (56) was severely injured in a hit-and-run accident on Palm Beach Road after a speeding motorcyclist jumped a red signal and crashed into her scooter. The accused motorcyclist remains unidentified because poor CCTV camera quality failed to capture the vehicle's registration number on the city's landmark road.
For the past nine days, Jain has been undergoing treatment at Apollo Hospital, Seawoods, for multiple fractures in both hands, a nose fracture, facial trauma, and various other injuries. Speaking to TOI from her hospital bed, Jain recounted, 'On May 18, I was riding my scooty to NMMC head-office at Belapur to meet a civic official. CCTV recordings from two cameras at NRI Junction show that at exactly 4:39 pm, a biker in a maroon shirt jumped the red signal and sped into my scooty while I was moving on a green light.'
Jain, who edits two magazines, 'Women Zone' and 'Kanchan Kanika', added that after she fell unconscious, the biker lifted his motorcycle and pushed it away from the scene to escape. Her husband, Sandeep Kumar Jain, who resides at NRI Complex, expressed frustration: 'An FIR has been registered at NRI police station against the unknown biker for reckless driving, but he has not been arrested because we lack his vehicle number. The accident happened in broad daylight on the supposedly best road in Navi Mumbai, where multiple surveillance cameras are installed.'
Investigating officer Kiran Swar of NRI police said, 'We have checked some CCTV recordings from the time of the accident, but the bike number plate is not clearly visible. We are investigating the matter.'
Commissioner of Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation, Kailas Shinde, told TOI, 'While NMMC has a CCTV monitoring room at our Belapur head-office, the police also have a similar control room. They are the primary users of CCTV to check traffic violations. The police should have reported earlier if there was any issue with camera quality.' Shinde added that a private agency is currently responsible for CCTV maintenance.
Social activist Madhu Shankar commented, 'What is the use of such an extensive CCTV network if cameras cannot even capture vehicle registration numbers? While Jain's accident occurred in daylight, I wonder how vehicles will be identified at night. Both NMMC and the police must resolve this critical issue.'
City-based social worker Rajesh Singh of Ganga Sagar Foundation added, 'I regularly use Palm Beach Road and have noticed CCTV cameras at traffic signals and junctions. If cameras fail to capture number plates, they should be replaced with high-definition cameras equipped with AI tools for face recognition.'
