Prank calls to police

[mrk123]

Prank calls to police

By Editorial

OFFICIALDOM in Pakistan is often rightly blamed for failing to deliver the goods. Yet the irresponsible behaviour of the public also contributes greatly towards adding to society’s problems and making it difficult for state institutions to function optimally. Take the example of the misuse of emergency telephone numbers. As reported in Thursday’s Dawn, official data shows that a staggering 95pc of calls made to the police’s Madadgar-15 helpline in Karachi turned out be bogus and were traced back to pranksters taking the law enforcers for a ride. In some cases, the callers made their intentions clear by indulging in non-serious conversations, while in others when the police actually sent out teams to investigate,

it turned out to be a false alarm. In a society so brutalised by crime and violence and with the police force spread so thin, such behaviour is appalling. While the police are criticised for their lack of response — in many cases genuine callers have been given the runaround by law enforcers — wasting the time and resources of the force through such trivial pursuits reflects the immaturity and irresponsible attitude of many individuals in society. Karachi is not alone in this regard, as the Rescue 1122 emergency helpline in Lahore, Rawalpindi and Peshawar has also been abused, with a high volume of prank calls reported in the past.

In Karachi’s case, the police plan to carry out a media campaign to educate the public against abusing the emergency helpline. The law enforcers can take numerous other steps to reduce the number of phoney calls; first-time offenders and minors should receive firm warnings not to make bogus calls. Repeat offenders should have their numbers blocked while in more serious cases, offenders should face the law, which calls for a fine, imprisonment or both for prank callers. It is hoped such measures will help bring down the volume of prank calls. With practical jokers clogging the lines and preventing genuine callers from getting through, prank calls are no laughing matter.
Published in Dawn, July 4th, 2014

 

[mrk123]

95pc calls to Madadgar-15 made by pranksters

KARACHI: About 95 per cent of calls made to Madadgar-15 in a month are prank calls, according to official data, made only to poke fun at law enforcers but police authorities have now decided to move into action against the prank callers under The Telegraph Act,1885.

A software specially developed for the purpose had been installed at all helpline Madadgar-15 offices to trace the callers who were wasting time and resources of the law-enforcement agency, said officials on Wednesday.

They said the decision to go after the pranksters was made by IGP Iqbal Mahmood Khan when he learnt about the nuisance at a recently held briefing about the helpline service.

“The software will block all the numbers from where prank calls were usually made,” said an official citing details of a recently held meeting on the issue at the central police office (CPO). It was attended by DIG crime, DIG headquarters and training and all three zonal DIGs of south, west and east.

“The data shared by the officials concerned at the meeting took many by surprise, according to which some 95 per cent calls made to Madadgar-15 in a month were categorised as prank calls as they were made only to poke fun at police or as pastime. Efforts were made several times to avoid the nuisance but nothing could be done to get rid of them once and for all,” he said.

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Also read: Police helpline received 90pc prank calls last year

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The problem became so serious that the authorities had to acquire the technology for blocking such calls and recognising the callers’ voice to help in their arrest under Section 25-D of The Telegraph Act 1885, he said.

The Section 25-D says: “Any person, who uses any telephone, public or private, for causing annoyance or intimidation to any person, whether a subscriber or not, or for obnoxious calls shall, without prejudice to any other action which the Telegraph Authority is competent to make under this Act, be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both.”

Sindh IGP Iqbal Mahmood Khan told Dawn that the decision had been made as a last resort as the people who were source of prank calls were in fact not only wasting time and resources of the law-enforcement agency but also depriving genuine complainant of getting his or her call connected to the helpline.

“Think about a man or woman in distress who makes a call to police helpline but cannot not get through only because of these prank calls,” said.

“We have acquired the technology solely for the purpose of blocking such numbers generating prank calls. We will then take action against all the callers and book them under the defined laws,” he said.

He said that the number of police helpline centres working in the city was 15 and they would soon be increased to 22 under a comprehensive plan to enhance the service.

Meanwhile, data released by the CPO said that during first six months of the year (January to June 2014) Madadgar-15 received 41,314 calls relating to crimes. “Among them 621 calls were about robbery, 544 about vehicles snatching, 896 vehicle theft, 1,402 motorcycle snatching, 2,158 motorcycle theft and 5,135 calls related to mobile phone snatching,” said the data.

Published in Dawn, July 3rd , 2014

 

[frenes]

بے حس اور ملی غیرت سے بے بھرا قوم
نا اپنا تحفظ نا ہی دوسروں کا احساس

 

[NokiaN95]

mere bhai qoom ko yaqeen hi nahi ata ho ga kai police hamari kisi ki madad ko pohanch sakte hai is liy check karte hain. in calls ki quantity kam say kam 10 caroor hone chahe thee.

 

[سعد]

The current situation of Pakistan esp. Karachi is the reason of these kind of activities by the public. We don't have sufficient opportunities of playing grounds, jogging parks, sports complexes, entertainment outlets, libraries (conventional and audio visual) or any other healthy activity for youth. I even blame unemployment for these kind of pranks.