Mid-Day:
Pune: Thursday, 28 August 2014.
Nearly five
years ago, the Pune police was much lauded for introducing the voice logger
facility to its control room, enabling them to record calls that gave them
tip-offs or information about ongoing cases. A Right To Information (RTI) query
launched by a city activist has, however, revealed that the facility has been
out of operation for the past two years.
Calls
recorded by the system formed an important part of evidence, and also helped
the police nab criminals based on the information given by callers. It was
especially useful in sensitive or controversial cases such as terror attacks,
murders or attacks on women.
However, in a
reply to an RTI application by Lohegaon-based social activist Binod Kumar Ojha,
the police admitted that the system had become defunct due to non-maintenance.
The reply, dated August 18, stated that the software had been installed on
November 22, 2009, with a three-year annual maintenance contract (AMC) with a
software company. After the contract ended on November 22, 2012, there was no
further upkeep of the system, and issues began to arise with it.
The activist,
Ojha, pointed out that this was a major lapse, as the facility could provide
crucial evidence for several ongoing criminal cases as well. “Pune city has
witnessed many controversial criminal incidents, like the recent bomb blast
outside the Faraskhana police station, or the murder of the anti-superstition
activist Dr Narendra Dabholkar. Besides this, crimes against women are
increasing day by day. As an alert citizen, if I were to call the police
control room, where is the guarantee that it would help police in investigating
the crime?” he asked.
“The voice
logger service at the police control room is crucial, as it becomes the most
vital piece of evidence during any criminal trial. If the Police Commissioner
does not respond to our demands of restarting the recording facility, we will
be compelled to approach the courts,” he told mid-day.
The Other
Side
While the
police’s official reply to Ojha admitted that non-maintenance had led to the
system’s end, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Branch- I) Shreekant
Pathak made entirely different claims. Mentioning that the system is not in
working condition, he said, “The server was affected during a fire incident
recently. I have asked my officials to send all
information about the AMC tomorrow (August 27).”
Prank
callers nabbed
The voice
logger facility also helped the police to nab prank callers, who often called
as many as 50 times just to bother the officers, or, sometimes, because the
calls were free of charge. The Pune
police control room receives more than 10 thousand calls daily, out of which
almost 90 per cent are blank or prank calls. With the help of the recording
facility, the police had identified and sent notices to 229 culprits, and
summoned 108 of them to the commissioner’s office.
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