Hyderabad, July 21: Watch out, snatchers r moving! Henceforth, citizens of twin cities can subscribe to free SMS alerts.
Hyderabad commissioner of police B Prasada Rao launched the SMS alert facility.
Some of the sample alerts include `Don’t display jewellery or mobiles when you are on the roads, B smart’; `Keep mobile phone in silent mode to prevent its theft, pocket pickers around!’; `Never travel in crowded buses or trains when you carry large amount of cash/jewellery, cheater around U’; `Never believe a stranger who offers to help you handle the cash in banks and fraudsters waiting’; `DELETE all mails/SMS which lure you with billions of pounds/dollars lottery prize’.
The Hyderabad police have already allotted `9010100100′ to receive grievances from citizens by SMS. “It is expected to be used only in emergency situations for speedy response when crime is in progress or after commission of crime,” according to an official release issued here on Monday.
“Many crimes can be prevented if we are alert and vigilant at the right time,” the commissioner said in the release.
Each alert would be sponsored by an advertisement. “If any citizen wants to receive these free crime alerts, they can simply type CA and send SMS to: 9010100100. If after sometime, they want to discontinue the service, all they have to do is type NoCA and SMS to 9010100100,” it added.
“Shortly, depending on the response, we also plan to send details of stolen vehicles to citizens so that they can refrain from buying them. Photos of the most wanted in sensational crimes will be sent to citizens who have GRPS feature in their phones,” the commissioner added.
So far, the website: hyderabadpolice.gov.in has received over 80 lakh hits, while htp.gov.in logged over 52 lakh hits, the release said.
-Agencies