Delhi Vigilance Department Troubled, as Pranksters Dial Helpline Number

New Delhi: Vigilance department of Delhi police is struggling with thousands of frivolous calls and posts received on its official helpline and Whatsapp numbers.

Launched in August last year, the Whatsapp number of the department alone has received over 75,000 messages so far, out of which just 8 messages including audio-video recordings were actionable and were sent for forensic tests, said Sindhu Pillai, DCP of Vigilance department.

Among the huge number of Whatsapp messages many were sarcastic while some objectionable messages were pursued and the sender was sent to jail, an official statement said.

A message on the Whatsapp number from an Indian in New York sought help in reaching back to India while a man in Dubai sought help in a cheating case there, it said.

Helpline of Vigilance department 1064 having four lines operated round the clock was also not immune to frivolous callers and those complaining against Delhi Police cops on trivial matters, he said.

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The helpline which was launched in March 2014 receives about 5-6 calls of complainants who express their grievances against policemen. Most of these calls are however non-serious in nature which are revealed during probe by flying squads of the department.

The flying squads including two inspector and four sub-inspector level officers probe each complaint by callers on the Vigilance helpline.

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"So far, 38 cases including 28 in 2014 and 10 in the current year have been registered against Delhi Police cops, based on the complaints received through Whatsapp and helpline numbers as well as those received from PCR number and complainants themselves," the DCP said.

A total of 78 policemen were charged in these cases among which 5 were finally dismissed after being found guilty, she said.