50,000 dial 100 every day!

It was 4.30 a.m on Monday. A 30-year-old woman, coming in a Super Luxury bus of the APSRTC from Razole to Hyderabad, got a rude shock when a co-passenger began misbehaving with her, despite the fact that there were more than 35 on board. As the bus arrived in Shanthinagar, 40 kms from the city, the woman alerted the bus driver and dialled 100. The lecher did not realise that he was dealing with a police constable! She knew exactly what was to be done. Within minutes, a police team rushed to the spot. The culprit, a post-graduate, working in a private pharma company, belongs to the same place as the woman in West Godavari district. He tendered an apology after which the woman excused him but not before the police took his details. In another incident, a passerby, upon noticing a group of women thrashing a man at Alwin Colony near Kukaatpally, dialled 100 and alerted the staff about the nuisance on the street. Within 25 minutes, the Kukatpally police rescued the man. It later transpired that his wife had caught him red-handed with another woman with the help of some women’s organisations. The police counselled the couple. These are just two of the nearly 50,000 calls that the staff of Dial 100 have been receiving on an average every day ever since the service was launched on the occasion of Ugadi. According to sources, a majority of the calls are made from Hyderabad followed by Ranga Reddy and Krishna districts. Typically, the callers inform about either accidents, burglaries, petty issues or sexual harassment. “We have directed all Station House Officers to respond to alerts from the Dial 100 staff. In the last four days, the police were alerted about accidents and petty issues. After the police reach the spot, they take statements from the victim and issue a receipt as acknowledgment,” B Raja Kumari, SP, Ranga Reddy told Express. When contacted, Inspector General of Police, Law and Order, J Purnachandra Rao, who is looking after Dial 100 functioning, said he was only responsible for internal work.

By Moule Mareedu
moulimareedu@gmail.com