Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore   

City police turn tech savvy

Staff Reporter

COIMBATORE: The Coimbatore City police have sought the services of cellular service providers to familiarize the public with the anti chain-snatching squad helpline number.

The city police commissioner P.K. Gandhi Rajan has recently formed the special squad for ensuring swift and instant reaction in the event of chain snatching incidents.

The squad members, consisting of 32 police personnel on 16 motorcycles are patrolling the city roads from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m.

The objective is to protect women walking alone, especially those wearing gold jewellery, besides those venturing out to buy milk in the early hours and also those drawing `kolam', and morning walkers.

The squad is equipped with the helpline number 99943-10000.

Service providers

Now to equip every cellular subscriber with this number, the city police have asked the cellular service providers to send SMS to all those living in and around Coimbatore city.

The SMS bearing the message from the city police commissioner appeals to the subscribers to contact the helpline number if they come across suspicious persons or chain-snatching incidents.

To begin with, Airtel has sent this SMS to its subscribers in and around Coimbatore city, while Hutch, Aircel, Reliance, Tata Indicom and BSNL are expected to dispatch this SMS within the next few days.

Mr. Gandhi Rajan said, "There is no point in just having a squad if it is not familiar to the end users, hence the drive through SMS." The SMS would enable the subscriber to dial the helpline without losing anytime, he further noted.

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