City police's Twitter, Facebook pages help people take safe roads

As chaos ruled the city roads on Monday following riots, hundreds of people took to social media to get help to reach their destination safely and also obtain updates on the situation.

The City Police Twitter handle and Facebook page played a major role in helping stranded people reach their destinations without much hassle. The Twitter handle and Facebook page directed people to take safe routes.

Aniket Kumar, a resident of Indiranagar and a techie who was stranded in Whitefield, said, “As soon as we heard the news about riots, our company asked us to return home. I was stuck in traffic at Whitefield and heard people telling that the mob was pelting stones at shops and buses near Domlur. I posted a tweet on City Police Twitter handle asking if it was safe for me to go to Indiranagar. I got a reply along with the directions of a safe route. This came in handy and I reached home safely.” 
Minute-to-minute updates on the social media platform about the situation in the city helped many people to know the ground reality. Shyam Mohan, a businessman said, “We realised that following the social media platform handled by the police would give us factual information. It is better than watching local television news channels.”

A senior police officer told DH, “Since September 1, from the time the unrest started in the city with bandhs and strikes, @BlrCityPolice Twitter handle has got 62,000 new followers and, 14,000 followers since Monday noon. While the Bengaluru Traffic Police handle had 1.34 lakh followers on Monday noon, it had 1.47 lakh followers on Tuesday. Bengaluru Traffic Police Facebook page had 4.26 lakh followers on Monday and it touched 4.38 lakh on Tuesday. The Bengaluru City Police Facebook page had four lakh followers and it was 4.22 lakh on Tuesday.”

The social media platform was used extensively and updates were posted to make public aware of what was happening around them. This helped in controlling rumours to spread.