ISLAMABAD: Flooded by ‘hoax calls’, the National Counter-Terrorism Authority’s (Nacta) anti-terrorism helpline has become something of a joke as the widespread misuse of a service meant to tackle the menace of terrorism continues to go unpunished.

According to data on calls received in just the first 20 days of July 2016, only 41 out of a total 8,305 calls were found to be legitimate and actionable. This was revealed during a Nacta meeting with its national coordinator Ihsan Ghani on Thursday.

The meeting was attended by members, directors general and directors of the authority and dealt with progress on Nacta-driven initiatives.

The only action taken against this mischief was the identification of 75 most frequent callers, who had made more than 50 calls each; their mobile phone SIMs were blocked after the matter was taken up with the Pakistan Telecommunication authority (PTA).

Nacta asks PTA to block mobile SIMs of 75 habitual pranksters

Undeterred by the interactive voice response (IVR) message, which warns callers that “legal action can be initiated for providing the wrong information”, a large number of people continue to indulge in the practice of making prank calls.

The meeting was also apprised of the performance of the 1717 helpline – operated and managed by Nacta round the clock – and the problems it faces.

Participants of the said meeting were told that despite a shortage of resources, including officers and trained staff, the authority continues to operate the helpline which can respond to any possible threat of terrorism country-wide, through the relevant law enforcment agencies.

Mr Ghani, taking serious notice of the situation, reiterated Nacta’s ambition to minimise the suffering of the traumatised nation, which has been the victim of a long war on terrorism. The national coordinator also decided to make an appeal to the people not to make hoax calls to the all-important helpline, which was not only a waste of precious resources, but could may result up in the irreparable loss of life for many innocent people, which may include members of the pranksters’ own family or friends, he added.

The authority has decided to make the names and numbers of such irresponsible persons public, in order to make them accountable to society so they are embarrassed by their family and friends for making hoax calls the 1717 helpline.

The helpline was established in Dec 2014, just days after the ghastly attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar. The government had appealed to all citizens to remain vigilant and report any suspicious person or activity on the helpline.

This is not the first time pranksters and hoax callers have been branded a menace. In Jan 2015, just a month after it was launched, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan revealed that “only 15 to 20 effective calls” had been received until then, while more than 500-600 complaints were found to be fake.

He had also warned against using the helpline to complain about domestic disputes.

Published in Dawn, August 19th, 2016