BENGALURU: Tech-savvy Bengaluru police, who have over 1.75 lakh followers on their Twitter account, have been accepting e-complaints sent through Twitter, and solving cases at lightning speed. But a few mischief-mongers, who are misusing the social media platform, are sending the police on a wild goose chase.
Around 4 pm on Tuesday, DCP (Central Division) Sandeep Patil sent out alerts to his men after a city-based netizen, Amit Parmar, tweeted, saying that he had been robbed of his cash by two bike-borne men near SBI Bank ATM in Viveknagar police limits.
The tweet read, “Two men on a purple Scooty snatched away the cash from me near SBI ATM situated in Vivek Nagar Police station limits. I had withdrawn the cash to celebrate my birthday, any suggestions?”
Police Commissioner M.N. Reddi, responding promptly to the tweet, directed Mr Patil to take up the case immediately. Mr Patil approached Mr Parmar on his Twitter handle and asked him to get in touch with the police. He also directed the Viveknagar police to conduct inquiries and visit the spot.
Over the next three hours, there was no reply from the alleged victim, and only around 8 pm, Amit, who confessed to being drunk, sent out a series of tweets, apologising for the “inconvenience” caused to the police. His tweets read:
- “I am drunk and enjoying my birthday celebrations. I am sorry for the inconvenience.”
- “I am taking back my complaint. I have trusted Kannada peoplz. Thank you for the support. Rab Rakha.” “Wahe guru ji da khalsa, te wahe guru ji di fateh.”
By the time the police tried to track him down, he had removed his twitter handle, @_parmar_a. Mr Sandeep Patil told Deccan Chronicle, “We took immediate note of his complaint. But, despite various attempts made by the police, the complainant Amit Parmar didn’t establish any contact with us. It is only towards late evening, I read his tweet which read – I’m drunk and enjoying my birthday celebrations.”
The DCP said that it was not the first such incident, and that of late, there have several such false complaints being filed through the social networking site. The officer said, “The police will not tolerate such nuisance from people. We have extended these services to help the citizens establish direct contact with the police. But there are such mischief makers who use the social media platform to mislead the force. We are on the lookout for Amit Parmar for filing a false complaint.”
