Blocked after rush of ‘congratulatory messages’, WhatsApp unblocks Cyberabad Police emergency number

However, the number is at the risk of getting blocked again. Hence, the Cyberabad police have appealed to the public to save the number for further communications. The cops will also save the numbers of those who approach them to reduce communication to unknown contacts.

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According to the Cyberabad Police, their WhatsApp number had received a whopping 1,900 messages from across India, over a period of three days since the killings.

After the early morning ‘encounter’ of the four accused in Hyderabad rape-murder case, the Cyberabad Police said it was forced to switch to an alternative number, after WhatsApp blocked its number following the heavy flow of incoming “congratulatory messages.” The number has, however, now been restored after the authorities contacted the social media platform.

According to the Cyberabad Police, their WhatsApp number had received 1,900 messages from across India, over a period of three days since the killings. The same number, prior to the incident, used to receive only about 150 messages a month. Alarmed by the heavy flow of messages, WhatsApp blocked the number on Sunday. Considering the importance of the emergency contact, police activated an alternate number for receiving complaints via WhatsApp.

When the authorities informed WhatsApp that the number is used by the public for listing their grievances, the number was unblocked. Upon getting reactivated on Monday morning, the WhatsApp number has received 600 messages between 7 am and 11.30 am.

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Explaining what happened, P Ravindra Prasad, inspector of police, IT Cell, Cyberabad Crime Branch, told indianexpress.com that after December 6 ‘encounter’, a lot of people tried to contact the police to see if they would respond. “A lot of congratulatory messages were also received and we responded to a lot of unknown numbers. Whatsapp found something fishy and as per their policy to spam a number which sends a lot of messages to unknown contacts, our number was blocked” Prasad said.

Since WhatsApp company has blocked our #Cyberabad #WhatsApp_number(9490617444), we are now using
7901114100 for receiving #citizen_grievances temporarily. Request to find the change for time being @RachakondaCop @hydcitypolice @TelanganaDGP

— Cyberabad Police (@cyberabadpolice) December 8, 2019

Citizens who were trying to contact the police through the blocked number took to social media when they couldn’t reach the cops. Following the outrage, on Monday morning, Cyberabad police once again tweeted “Dear Citizens, Our #Cyberabad #Police Whats App 9490617444 is activated. The #Cyberabad #Police is here for you 24/7 #whatsapp #service. thank you. @TelanganaDGP @RachakondaCop @hydcitypolice(sic)”

The WhatsApp control room, set up for each district unit or commissionerate in Telangana, usually receives complaints of crime against women, traffic violations, public nuisance, etc with photos, videos and audio etc, and the same is forwarded to respective departments for further action. The number has been active since 2015. Similar WhatsApp numbers are used by Hyderabad police – 9490-616-555 and Rachakonda police – 9490-617-111.

Since people have already started sending their grievances to the alternate number issued by Whatsapp, the same is going to be in use now.

Rahul V Pisharody

Rahul V Pisharody is Assistant Editor with the Indian Express Online and has been reporting for IE on various news developments from Telangana since 2019. He is currently reporting on legal matters from the Telangana High Court. Rahul started his career as a journalist in 2011 with The New Indian Express and worked in different roles at the Hyderabad bureau for over 8 years. As Deputy Metro Editor, he was in charge of the Hyderabad bureau of the newspaper and coordinated with the team of city reporters, district correspondents, other centres and internet desk for over three years. A native of Palakkad in Kerala, Rahul has a Master's degree in Communication (Print and New Media) from the University of Hyderabad and a Bachelor's degree in Business Management from PSG College of Arts and Science, Coimbatore. ... Read More

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