KARACHI: The Citizens-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) has a new helpline — 1102 — to assist victims of crimes and others, a spokesperson said on Thursday.

He added that with the allocation of the new helpline, the CPLC has further simplified and extended its reach to citizens in need of help and assistance. The concerned citizens can now reach the CPLC by dialling this short code from any landline or mobile number. The CPLC’s other two helpline numbers — 021-35662222 and 021-35682222 — are also active.

Since its inception, the official said, the CPLC has been assisting victims of crimes like kidnapping, extortion, terrorism, fraud, harassment, dacoity, trespassing, rape, and domestic violence, among others.A number of CPLC projects have been very well-received by the general public which includes ‘Shanakht’ (identification of unknown dead bodies) which has been launched in collaboration with the Edhi Foundation.

Unidentified dead bodies are identified through biometric scan technology by utilising the Nadra data bank. A special desk has been established by the CPLC at Edhi morgues to carry out the task in collaboration with officials of the morgue.

Another significant project was CPLC’s Neighbourhood Care in Karachi and Hyderabad.

Published in Dawn, January 15th, 2016