Hoax suicide call leads to witch-hunt

Disgruntled cop said he got punishment postings

A disgruntled constable sent the New Delhi district police on a witch hunt on Sunday after calling the police control room and informing that he was going to commit suicide.

A senior police officer told Deccan Herald that he was not traced till late in the night, but was believed to be safe. “Though the constable claimed to be hanging himself from a tree behind Mandir Marg police station, his mobile phone location showed he was in north Delhi’s Chawri Bazar area,” said the officer justifying why he believed it to be a hoax call.

The police constable, whose name officials chose to withhold, claimed during his conversation with the receiver on the other end to be troubled by punishment postings meted out to him by his superiors. 

Sources said the constable was disgruntled over being forced to remain with the third battalion despite having already served in it for two consecutive terms. “He claimed he was not granted audience in the matter by his superiors,” said the source.Police received a call at around 4 pm in which the caller first said that a constable was going to commit suicide.  Police called back the number upon which the person at the other end said he himself was the constable and that he was going to hang himself from a tree in a forested area behind Mandir Marg police station.

The call attendant, while keeping the constable engaged in the conversation, alerted the police about the situation. Even as policemen at the Mandir Marg set out to search for the constable, he hung the call and switched off his mobile phone. A team sent to that region behind the Mandir Marg police station could not trace him.

Police soon learnt that the mobile phone number the constable had called from belonged to a person known to him. A technical surveillance was started and his location was traced to Chawri Bazar, said police. A team was rushed to search for him there, but he could not be found.

The officer said the constable was likely drunk at the time of the call. He said disciplinary action could be initiated against him for making the hoax call.