Police launch SMS complaint service

You can now register a complaint with the police by sending an SMS. The service was launched by joint commissioner of police (administration) SP Yadav on Saturday.

The two toll-free mobile numbers, 77381 44144 and 77381 33133, are functional, Yadav said, and added that after receiving an SMS, an officer of the rank of inspector will note down its contents and forward it to the deputy commissioner of police (operation).

After verifying the complaint, DCP (operation) will forward it to joint commissioners of police for further action. It will then be relayed to the concerned police station where the complainant resides or the incident occurred. If the complaint or grievance is genuine, the senior police inspector of the police station will call the complainant to the police station and convert the complaint into first information report (FIR) or a non-cognisable offence complaint (NC) depending on its the merit.

These toll-free numbers will be of help to those who do not know the jurisdiction of their police station, and secondly, the officers cannot refuse to record the complaint as the SMS will have already reached the top-ranking police officers, Yadav said.
Police commissioner Arup Patnaik will monitor the helpline regularly, he added