BENGALURU: The gruesome rape and murder of a veterinary doctor in Hyderabad perhaps shook the Bengaluru City Police (BCP) too, with Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao announcing that citizens should download the Suraksha app.
The public response has been overwhelming with 1,40,000 downloads in just one week.
Personnel manning the police control room pointed out that they have seen a good number of downloads in the past seven days.
“When the app was launched in 2017, we had got up to one lakh downloads, but slowly people stopped downloading it. After the commissioner made the announcement, it increased to over two lakh now. In just a week we saw one lakh-plus downloads which is a very good number,” said a senior police officer.
The control room, however, said they have not been getting any distress calls and that most calls were to check if the Suraksha app is working and if the police respond to them upon pressing the emergency button. “When we get calls, most of them say they wanted to check if the app is working. These calls are also important to us so that people know about our prompt response and will have confidence in us,” added an official.
A police officer from Seshadripuram said they have been instructed by the jurisdictional Deputy Commissioners of Police(DCPs) to spread awareness among the citizens, especially women.
The police officer said they have been reaching out to private and government schools and colleges and speaking to the students about the app. Akila Venkat, a user, said, “I read about the app in the news and downloaded it. I reported a case of stalking and within 2 minutes, police officers landed at my location and handled the stalker.”
Another user Ranjitha Nair said, “After installing it, I tried how it works and the response from the control room was immediate. I thank police for such an app. We can now feel that women are in safe hands.”
Many others who tried out the app have praised the Bengaluru City Police for their quick response on social media. Not only women, but even men have also downloaded the app and say it works. “Even men can get into trouble and we need police to help us. After downloading the app, I checked it and in three seconds, I got a call back from the police. It really does help”, said Suraj R.
A police officer said about 270 Hoysala patrol vehicles are stationed at sensitive zones and over 1,200 Cheetah motorcycle patrol squads.
The Central division DCP tweeted about an incident where he got some people to understand that emergency number 100 works. “Today in my night round, I found people stranded near UB City. When suggested about Dial 100, they were apprehensive that there is no proper response. I made them call 100 and three Hoysala vehicled reached the spot within three minutes. We are requesting citizens to use Dial 100, along with Suraksha app, especially for women. Give us feedback so that we improve if any technical glitch,” he added.