Cyberabad police received 341 complaints through mobile messaging service WhatsApp in just a month after the facility was introduced. Of the complaints received, 152 were related to law and order, 36 to crime information, 52 to traffic complaints, 53 public suggestions and 101 other complaints. The WhatsApp phone is manned by a team at the Cyberabad Commissionerate. On receiving a complaint, the grievance is forwarded to the police unit and an action taken report forwarded to the complainant, explained Cyberabad Commissioner C.V. Anand. About 10,000 citizens have stored the WhatsApp number 9490617444 in their mobiles and interact with police, he added. For better coordination, 13 WhatsApp groups were created for different units. The officials exchange and transfer pictures and CCTV clippings through the application lowering response time. Apart from law and order police, City Security Wing (CSW), SHE teams and City Armed Reserve (CAR) groups were also created, Mr. Anand said. In one of the cases, a notorious chain snatcher was arrested by the L.B. Nagar police following a tip-off from their Kukatpally counterparts through WhatsApp.
