UP Expressway CCTV Scandal: Private Moments Filmed Thousands of Times, Say Police as More Arrests Made

A major CCTV misuse scandal on Uttar Pradesh’s Purvanchal Expressway has led to arrests, firings and a police probe after employees were found recording couples' private moments and using the clips to blackmail them.

The shocking CCTV misuse scandal on Uttar Pradesh's Purvanchal Expressway, which was exposed few days ago, has shifted attention to serious gaps in surveillance control, privacy safeguards and staff monitoring. What began as leaked clips on social media has now turned into a full criminal probe, with more staff firings, arrests and new allegations of wider misuse of camera footage meant only for road safety.

More arrests in the UP expressway CCTV scandal have uncovered a deeper pattern of crime involving extortion. Police say Assistant Manager Ashutosh Sarkar admitted that private recordings were made 'thousands of times' over the last two and a half years. The clips, however, only recently surfaced on social media.

How the blackmail racket came to light

The case broke open when videos of couples and newly married travellers, recorded inside their moving cars, began spreading online. These clips were traced back to cameras connected to the expressway's Anti-Traffic Management System (ATMS). These cameras are installed every 10 kilometres and are meant to track overspeeding, accidents and emergencies in real time.

However, according to a complaint sent to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister's Office, some control room employees were zooming in on CCTV screens to watch private moments. They then recorded these clips on their personal devices and followed the vehicles. The complaint says the victims were threatened with their videos being leaked unless they paid money. In several cases, the videos were uploaded online even after payments were made.

Initial checks of access logs and device histories suggested that such footage had been accessed repeatedly over several months, hinting at a long-running pattern of misuse.

Immediate staff action and firings

Once the issue reached senior authorities, the operator company, SCIPL Superwave Communication and Infra Solutions Pvt Ltd, carried out internal checks. The company confirmed misuse of the ATMS system and removed four employees.

Those removed include Assistant Manager Ashutosh Sarkar, Traffic Manager Shashank Shekhar, a system technician and a system engineer. Sarkar had already been dismissed earlier when the expressway authority flagged 'unauthorised leakage of video content.'

On Thursday, the Traffic Manager deployed on Package-3 of the expressway was also terminated, adding to a series of urgent disciplinary actions.

CCTV videos repeatedly pulled out for months

The videos that went viral online showed couples inside vehicles, unaware that staff at the control room were zooming in, recording and storing private clips. These cameras, which have strong zoom capability to detect number plates and road hazards, were instead turned into a tool for personal misuse.

Police say the system operators manually extracted footage from the screens without any approval. This happened many times, raising questions about how the ATMS allowed such manual access without alerts or oversight.

Police investigation and arrests

After the complaint reached the state administration, police registered a suo motu case against four staff members. Three have been arrested:

• Assistant Manager Ashutosh Sarkar
• Technician Abhishek Tiwari
• System Engineer Pramod Patel

Traffic Manager Shashank Shekhar, accused of circulating videos online, is currently on the run and is being searched by police teams.

During questioning, Sarkar reportedly told police that such recordings had been captured 'thousands of times' during the last two and a half years. Until now, however, they did not appear on public platforms, according to India Today report.

Fresh allegations widen concerns

A new complaint posted online by a whistleblower added another worrying layer. It claimed that women walking near fields close to the expressway were also filmed without their knowledge and that some of these videos leaked online. The operating company has denied these allegations but says it has increased monitoring inside the control room.

Locals living near the expressway say the cameras now feel invasive and uncontrolled, instead of being a tool for safety.

Police teams are now checking access logs, device backups and whether archived footage has been leaked elsewhere. The expressway authority has instructed the operator to strengthen internal controls, track all camera access in real time and conduct fresh audits of all staff with video permissions.

The investigation is expected to widen, with digital forensics teams reviewing seized devices. Officials say strict action will continue against anyone found leaking or storing private clips. The government is also likely to review surveillance rules to prevent similar breaches on other expressways.

The scandal has ignited public concern, as people question how a system built for public safety could be turned into a method of blackmail. For many travellers, trust in the expressway's surveillance network will only return once strict technical controls and strong accountability measures are put in place.