Chandigarh will receive 2,152 additional artificial intelligence-enabled surveillance cameras as part of a technology upgrade for city policing, Union home minister Amit Shah announced at the Chandigarh Police Raising Day parade on Sunday. The Centre is providing the cameras, which will be added to around 2,130 CCTV cameras already operational across the city.
Shah made the announcement while presenting the President’s Police Colour to Chandigarh Police during its 60th Raising Day event at the Police Lines in Sector 26. He said the expanded network would help the force monitor suspicious activity, strengthen crime prevention and improve public safety.
The proposed addition would more than double the number of cameras currently operating across Chandigarh. The announcement, however, did not specify the locations, installation schedule, technology standards or operating arrangements for the new surveillance network.
Shah also highlighted Chandigarh Police’s performance since the implementation of the three new criminal laws. According to figures cited by him, the force registered 8,206 first information reports from August 4, 2024. Online chargesheets had been filed in 7,590 of those cases, representing nearly 92.5% of the total.
He said Chandigarh Police had recorded an overall conviction rate of about 85%, with convictions secured in an average of 140 days. In cases registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, the conviction rate was stated to be 93%.
Punjab Governor and Chandigarh’s administrator, Gulab Chand Kataria, also referred to the force’s response capabilities and implementation of the new criminal laws. He said the city had recorded a response time of 4 minutes and 33 seconds, while Shah cited an average response time of around four minutes. Quick response teams, Shah said, could reach an incident location in about 10 minutes.
The new camera network is being announced alongside an expansion of Chandigarh Police’s operational fleet. Shah flagged off 141 vehicles, including motorcycles, scooters, utility vehicles and buses. The vehicles comprise 50 Bajaj Pulsar motorcycles, 42 TVS Apache motorcycles, 20 Royal Enfield Bullet motorcycles, 13 pink scooters, nine Mahindra Boleros, seven Maruti Ertigas, two Mahindra Scorpios, two Tata Yodha mini-trucks and three small buses.
Shah said 154 new vehicles had been added to the Union Territory police fleet in 2026 to strengthen patrolling, mobility and emergency response. The fleet expansion and additional cameras are intended to support faster deployment as well as wider monitoring across the city.
The Union home minister also said Chandigarh Police could become the first police force in the country to earn a drug-free distinction. He praised the force’s action against drug trafficking and gangster networks and urged personnel to intensify efforts to prevent drug addiction among young people.
The President’s Police Colour recognises the service record of a police force. Shah said the award reflected six decades of discipline and public service since Chandigarh Police was established in 1966. The next stated steps are the deployment of the Centre-provided AI-enabled cameras and the continued expansion of the police fleet and emergency response system.
