BENGALURU: Bengaluru City Police isn’t a stranger to crank calls. After the recent bomb scare at Kempegowda International Airport (KIA), which resulted in a two-hour flight delay of flights, City Express decided to look into the number of the crank and hoax calls received by the Police Control Room (PCR) daily.
According to data received by the City Crime Records Bureau (CCRB) and the PCR, per day, out of 1,663 total calls received on average under the crank call category, at least 30-40 calls are crank calls, while the rest are accidental, blank calls from residents. In addition, these kinds of calls come in from around 9pm to 1am every day. The number of calls doubles during the weekends, according to ACP of Police Control Room, K Ajay Kumar.
Within four bomb hoax calls are received in a year. “In most cases, the person is either mentally unstable or is on drugs or alcohol. They are either sent to rehabilitation centres or given a stern warning,” says Kumar. Multiple crank calls from the same person results in the blocking of the number, and the caller will have to visit the station, explain his action and provide an apology letter, after which his number may be unblocked.
On Tuesday, KIA had received another bomb scare from a 34-year-old MBA graduate from Udupi. The man arrested will have to apply for bail, but if rejected, he may face up to three years imprisonment. Kumar stated that they had received similar calls from him three times in July as well.
Bomb squad, police, fire dept alerted
Once control room operators receive a call, the information is directed to the Bomb Squad. The area’s police station is also alerted. Simultaneously, the caller’s details are forwarded to the technical team to ensure the genuineness of the information provided. The area’s local ambulance and fire department are also given a heads up. “We cannot take any chances with these cases, so every time we get such calls, we follow the usual procedure to ensure the safety of people,” says Kumar.
Psychologically speaking Psychiatrist at Sakra
World Hospital, Dr Naveen Jayaram, says that the reason behind such calls could be high novelty seeking and externalising traits or thrill-seeking, which causes an increase in dopamine levels in the brain. Other reasons could be the person facing extreme trouble with authorities and is unable to handle the stress, hence anger turns inward. In these cases, the patient is usually treated for 10-20 days, depending
on his response.