THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Connecting to Pink Squad, the all-woman police patrol, is going to be difficult if yours is a private mobile connection. The helpline number 1515 is inaccessible to users of various private mobile networks. When the number is dialled, the recording says it is a wrong number. When asked about this, an official said that many of the private networks are yet to be linked to the toll-free number. The Pink Squad was launched on August 15. DC, in September, had tried the number, but could not get connected.
Then, officials suggested that the ones unable to get through to 1515 can try 1091 and 181. The Pink Cell receives on an average close to 30 calls every day, many of which are redirected from the women’s cell. Most of the calls received at Pink Cell would be distress calls which require the Patrol to rush to certain spots. The squad functions only till 8 pm. When DC checked with the commissioner of police Sparjan Kumar, he said that it was only a temporary issue and will be rectified soon. He was told that the issue had not been rectified since September.
Then, the commissioner said that the issue would be looked into. The number was inaccessible from Vodafone and Idea numbers. Airtel and BSNL numbers were getting connected. The all-woman police patrol was introduced to deal with eve-teasing and harassment. The patrol is not entirely dependent on helpline calls and spot eve-teasing issues as their vehicles scan the city.
