Police forces in India are often in the line of fire for lethargic action and slow response time while following any case. But probably things are changing, and changing for good.
Thanks to new technologies and officers like Indrajeet Mahatha, a senior Indian Police Service officer of Jharkhand cadre, people have a ray of hope to look up to the otherwise abused lot. Mahatha recently tracked down a girl, who went missing from Saraikela in Jharkhand, using app-based messenger service WhatsApp.
Saraikela Superintendent of Police Indrajeet Mahatha got the information at around 8 pm on March 31, 2015, that a girl had gone missing from the area. Acting swiftly in the case, Mahatha immediately put officials on duty to track the whereabouts of the girl.
According to the IPS officer, the last tracked mobile location of girl was found to be the area's railway station. And then came into play the role of a WhatsApp group formed by Mahatha himself around six months back.
Speaking to IBNLive, the Saraikela SP said that he immediately circulated the photograph of the girl on his WhatsApp group comprising senior police officials from across Bihar and Jharkhand.
Search operations were conducted at different railway stations on all the trains that had left the area. A team of GRP officials recovered the girl within an hour from Subarnarekha Express train at Dhanbad railway station in Jharkhand.
The police officer further informed IBNLive that as many as seven to eight children have been recovered by the police using WhatsApp in the last four-five months.
He said that almost all the districts across Jharkhand and Bihar were connected through the WhatsApp group formed by Mahatha. The group comprises senior police officials as well as SHOs from different police stations.
"The group helps us in swift transfer of information in any such eventuality. For example, photograph of a missing child can be circulated in this manner immediately across all districts, ensuring quick recovery in most cases," said Mahatha.
Apart from this group, the tech-savvy IPS officer has created two other WhatsApp groups – one comprising around 110 IPS officers from his 1999 batch and the other having mediapersons in the region as members.
Though creating a WhatsApp group is no big deal, such effective use of one certainly sets an example for others who are at similar position. As India ventures into an ambitious 'Digital India' programme, such simple but productive use of a chat messenger is the least we can resort to.
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