The State Coastal Police is joining the bandwagon of police agencies on popular cross-platform mobile messaging service WhatsApp to enable faster and easier sharing of information.
The Thiruvananthapuram city police, apart from other district and city police agencies in the State, have already started making use of WhatsApp to help the public share information, including tip-offs, photographs, and other information, with police officials, with the mobile numbers of the officers concerned being publicised across mainstream and social media platforms.
The coastal police version of WhatsApp, according to a senior police official, will aim at gathering information on “terrorist activities, use of fishing boats for smuggling, human trafficking, infiltration of refugees via sea and on violation of international maritime boundaries by fishing groups”.
Photographs or any information on such matters can be sent directly to the Additional Director-General of Police (Coastal) on 94979 99996, or to the AIG, Coastal Police, on 94979 96910.
While these numbers will be the same for information pertaining to all the eight coastal police stations in the State, the number for each coastal police station would be that of the Circle Inspector concerned.
For Thiruvananthapuram, the Circle Inspector in charge of coastal security from Kollengode on the Tamil Nadu- Kerala border to Kappil in Varkala will be available on WhatsApp on 94979 87478.Confidential
Information and photographs, including phone numbers of those who share it with the coastal police, will be kept confidential, according to S. Ajayakumar, Sub Inspector, Vizhinjam Coastal Police Station, who added that the initiative would come in handy for the coastal police even to help fishermen in distress out in the sea.
