BCP: Call 112 before taking to social media

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Following a series of "fake" road rage and extortion incidents being reported by the citizens on various social media platforms, the City Police Commissioner B Dayananda urged the people to prioritise alerting the 112 Emergency Response Support System (ERSS) before posting the matter on social media.

Speaking at a conference on Friday, the Bengaluru Police Chief said that the investigations get affected when a victim does not inform the police in time or does not come forward to record their statement. 

“Call us on 112 and the police will be able to act on the complaint immediately, investigate, and book the offender. It would also help us take away one more offender off the streets and keep Bengaluru as safe as possible," B Dayananda said.

He also pointed out that such cases when raised on social media, hours or even days later, results in police spending more time in tracing the victim through his social media account than tracing the actual victim.

"Posting about a situation on social media to gain publicity and expecting the police to act upon the incident is not right. How can they expect the police to take action when they are not ready to file a complaint?" he asked while also adding that there is nothing wrong in spreading awareness about something, but it can be done only after the police have been alerted about the incident.

Explaining how the technology has played a significant role in helping the police identify the attackers earlier, Dayananda advised the people to invest, if they can, in the installation of a dash camera on their vehicles.