RAWALPINDI: The police have received more than 15,000 prank calls on its emergency hotline so far this year.

Most of these calls were by women and children though there were also many by men. Inspector In-charge Emergency Helpline Nasir Jamal Shah told Dawn that 20,568 calls were received 15 between Jan 1 and March 25 this year of which 15,139 were prank calls. He said the police receive between 500 and 600 prank calls a day.

“In most cases, women call and make jokes, make fun of the police, ask policemen to give them credit for their mobile phones and sometimes, they also use vulgar language,” he said.

“Women will ask you to befriend them, they will ask policemen to come over to their houses because they are alone and to order burgers and other fast food for them,” he added. Mr Shah stressed on the need for raising awareness about misusing the emergency service.

He said children also call to make fun of the police and at times to complain about their parents when they are left alone.

Asked how the police deal with habitual prank callers, he said their numbers are blocked for 24 hours so that genuine callers are not put on hold.

He said two separate cases have been registered against prank callers, with the Airport police and the Civil Lines police. He added that out of the total number of calls received, 3,564 were for legal help and other assistance and that the police had provided quick response to 1,865 callers.

Published in Dawn, March 27th, 2018