Pakistan's security gadgets market booming

The deteriorating security situation in Pakistan is good for one group of people: Owners of stores that sell security equipment. Local security gadget dealers in Rawalpindi, for example, report high sales over the last few months, citing growing terror threat as a major cause of it. Previously, close-circuit television (CCTV) cameras, spy cameras, beam sensors, motion sensors, and fire alarms were used by law-enforcement agencies, especially police, private security companies, multinational firms, banks, five-star hotels, moneychangers, and sensitive departments.

Daily Times’s Imran Asghar reports that these days ordinary people are using these devices at shops and houses to keep a close eye on terrorists. He went on a tour of Rawalpindi’s electronics markets and found dealers doing a roaring trade.

Shoaib, who runs an electronics shop on College Road, said these days, people preferred installing security gadgets at home and shops to hiring security guards considering the former a more effective solution to terrorism. He said people were more interested in buying CCTVs and night vision cameras for installation at houses, filling stations, jewelry shops, hotels and restaurants.

Awaisur Rehman, another security gadget dealer in Saddar Bazaar, said most of the security devices available on the market were imported from China, Taiwan and Korea. He said CCTV cameras ranged in price from Rs 2,500 to 150,000 apiece. According to him, a good CCTV camera with high quality zooming of over one-and-half kilometer distance is selling between Rs 100,000 and Rs 150,000.

Usman, the owner of a Blue Area electronics shop, said the CCTV camera with a digital video recorder, which could save data for four to six months, was popular among people looking for one for domestic use. He said most of the capital’s jewelers had installed spy cameras with an unlimited computer recording capacity in and outside their shops. According to him, beam sensors and motions sensors are very effective against car theft, especially during nighttime.

Ejaz Ahmed, a car dealer, said he wanted to install more than five CCTV cameras in his Committee Chowk showroom. He said the CCTV cameras ensured safety of goods.

Uzma, a housewife, said she had installed a CCTV outside her house to keep an eye on suspicious people in the absence of her husband, who left for office in the morning and returned at night.