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Nagpur: Mobile phones in the hands of kids are proving to be a headache for cops manning the Control Room. The emergency number 100 of Police Control Room is ringing for no tangible reasons. A whopping 3000 “unnecessary” calls are being made daily to the cops. Surprisingly, most of these “useless” calls are being made by kids as ‘plaything’. But the ‘prank’ calls are putting the cops in a fix as the callers go silent once the particular operator responds to the calls thinking it an emergency.
Now, “on-the-edge” Police Department has put the parents on the notice and ‘appealed’ them not to equip kids with mobile phones. Or at least keep a watch on the numbers the kids are dialing. Since the number 100 is of Police Control Room, these “unwanted” calls turn the line busy and the genuine callers are put in a quandary.
The city police helpline — “Dial 100” — is meant for seeking police help during distress, but many are dialling the number “innocently.” Terming the childish callers pranksters would be an excess. But the innocents seem to be posing a menace of sorts to the men in khaki manning Control Room.
Once a caller dials 100 reporting about an incident or seeking the help of the police, address of the caller can be seen by the control room on a computer screen and they rush in a police van nearest to the spot of the incident. But here, everything is ‘blank.’
3000 of such ‘prank’ calls daily is too much for the Police Control Room. Apprised of the “grave situation,” the Commissioner of Police Dr K Venkatesham has appealed the citizens, specifically the parents, not to hand over mobile phones to kids. Next time, they could face the music for the “unwanted” calls to Police Control Room.
