The Vijayawada police on Saturday arrested a man for allegedly dialing the 100 helpline several times, and using abusive language against them.
The man, identified as 31-year-old Murali, reportedly called the police around 298 times from September last year.
The New Indian Express reported that Murali was a lorry driver and a native of Devarapalli in West Godavari district.
Cases have been registered against under sections of the IPC that deal with abusing women and obstructing a public servant from discharging their duties.
The TNIE report adds that Murali had also called other helpline numbers like 108, 104 and 102 to abuse the person who picked up the phone.
Murali is also reported to have told the police that he accidentally called them when he was drunk.
In January this year, it was reported that only about four out of every 10 calls to 108 were genuine.
According to reports, a shocking 46,49,025 “ineffective” non-emergency calls were made to 108 in 2016, with children contributing 10%.
Some cities have it worse.
It was earlier reported that the Delhi police get around 72,000 ‘blank calls’ everyday.
July 26, 2024
