The city police will soon launch a mobile app to generate and issue acknowledgements in seconds to those who lodge complaints after losing mobile phones or documents. The police will launch the app before June 10 and this is expected to help lakhs of Benglaureans.
Currently, the complainants spend much time in getting acknowledgments due to delays at police stations. They need not go to the police station to lodge complaints if they lose phones or documents once the app becomes operational. Bengaluru police will be the second police force in the country to launch such an app after the Delhi police.
City Police Commissioner N S Megharik decided to launch the mobile app facility, similar to that of the Delhi police, to help those who lose mobile phones, laptops other electronic gadgets and documents. The police have now developed E-LOST mobile app and the trial is on to inspect technical issues and to stabilise it.
Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) R Hithendra and Deputy Commissioner of Police (City Armed Reserve) Abhishek Goyal are heading a team of about 20 staff who are conducting trails. The police should be able to launch the app before June 10, Hithendra told Deccan Herald.
The app can be downloaded on mobile phones, computers and laptops using internet. The city police Facebook page will also have a link to the app. One can lodge complaint from anywhere in the country through using their phone.
Complainants should compulsorily mention their mobile phone numbers and e-mail ID in the complaint.
The complaints are directly sent to State Crime Records Bureau (SCRB) office at MS building as the app is connected to SCRB. Acknowledgements are generated and sent to the complainant’s e-mail ID. The complainant will receive an e-mail and SMS if valuables are recovered, he added.
Hithendra clarified that the app will not handle cases related to theft of mobile phones and or other articles. “Theft is an offence and a case needs to be registered. There is no criminality if a citizen loses something and hence acknowledgements are sought to claim insurance and get court affidavits,” he added.
“ Each police station in the city receives about 1,000 such complaints a year and a large number of people who lose their valuables never approach the police.
The mobile app will help such category of victims. Moreover, generating acknowledgements will help the police trace owners of articles whenever the police make large scale recoveries. Some times, the police will not be able to trace the owners as they would not have lodged complainants.
The app will successfully redress this challenge too,” he added.