Vijayawada CP faces embarrassment on live show as no one lifts Dial 100

Vijayawada: Vijayawada Commissioner of Police was put in an embarrassing spot during the live telecast on women safety on Sunday. It was a shamefully disheartening moment when the anchor of a news channel dialed 100 to check if the police responded promptly to distress calls while the police officer was on-line.

The police officer responded that he was confident that his officials would pick up the call.

However, to his shock, no one picked the call. The top cop was also seen asking the news anchor to cut the call and try again. The redial met with a similar fate. There was no response from the official helpline number even when the caller waited for close to two minutes.

The programme was being aired live on a prominent news channel in Andhra Pradesh and man on-line was none other than Ch. D. Tirumala Rao, the City Police Commissioner!

Showing her presence of mind, the anchor raised a genuine doubt. “If at this very moment, a woman in distress dials 100 and none answers the call, what will happen to her fate.” Pretty obviously, the official was caught on the wrong foot.

The controversy comes at a time when there is a renewed debate on protection of women, insipid police probe and delayed court proceedings.

The phone goof-up makes us to recall the brazen statement of Telangana State Home Minister, Mahmood Ali, wherein he stated “She (Disha) could have called 100 and not her sister. Had she called '100' she could have been saved.”

The minister had also added, “We will spread awareness that 100 is a friendly number, if you dial 100, within minutes the police will reach the spot. In the 30 minutes that she spoke to her sister if she would have called 100 at least once, the police would have taken action then itself."

The Vijayawada episode exposes the fact that even Dial 100 is not women-friendly, much like the politicians and police department.