The days of “informers” are gone. Social media are the new friends of police.

The number of police officers taking help of smart phones, webcast technology and apps to solve intricacies of crime is just going up.

In the past six months alone, at least 53 cases have been solved with the help of technology.

Darbhanga senior superintendent of police (SSP) Manu Maharaaj received over 500 messages on his WhatsApp the very first day he made his number, 9771977977, public on Thursday.

“The response is tremendous. Some of the information is very useful for the police, which we earlier didn’t have,” he told The Telegraph on Sunday.

Maharaaj, who is in the eye of a storm in the wake of death of 33 people in the Gandhi Maidan stampede and his subsequent transfer from Patna, said he had asked all the station house officers (SHOs) to use WhatsApp and webcast technology, which allow crucial information to be transmitted instantly, leading to speedy solving of crimes, in some cases.

Jitendra Rana, Maharaaj’s successor in Patna, too is inclined to the use of social media and other networking sites in solving crimes.

He has introduced Facebook and Twitter to interact with the residents of the city. “We have got vital clues in some cases through social media,” Rana said.

Rana added: “I have also told the station house officers to remain in touch with the people through these websites and apps. You can solve problems instantly with the help of such a technology, which earlier we don’t. We have also got inputs from people about traffic arrangements in the town on our websites.”

The use of WhatsApp and social media has proved a boon for the police. Recently, a boy, who had gone missing from Mahendra locality of the town, was reunited with his family after his photograph was uploaded and subsequently sent on WhatsApp and other social networking sites. The parents got information about the boy and he was handed over to his parents within a couple of hours of his missing.

The police earlier mainly relied on the police informers, who used to give tip-off about unlawful activities and involvement of suspects in crimes. Needless to say, the police informers were paid a fixed amount for helping the former under secret service fund.

The CCTV camera has also helped the police unearth a well-knit racket involved in stealing infants from a Patna hospital. At least two women thieves have been nabbed and stolen infants recovered in the recent past, an officer with Pirbahore police station said.

The police officer said a middle-aged woman, admitted to the PMCH for treatment after being brutally assaulted by an unruly mob in Jehanabad, was spotted fleeing from her ward on the CCTV camera and subsequently arrested from a remote village on the borders of Patna and Jehanabad.

Earlier, a girl student had sent the photograph of a constable who used to harass her friend on his cellphone to the SSP. The cop was immediately suspended and departmental proceedings initiated against him. Similarly, a minor son of a noted hotelier was recovered from Ara in Bhojpur district after the police spotted the vehicle’s exit route on the CCTV camera installed near Saguna roundabout at Danapur.

Muzaffarpur police is also not lagging behind in the use of such apps. Last week, an infant was reunited with his parents after he had gone missing from a private nursing home located at Juran Chhapra. “The infant was recovered from Madhubani with the help of the CCTV footage. A CCTV camera installed at the hospital had captured the photograph of the suspect,” a senior police officer of Muzaffarpur said. The officer revealed that the apps and networking sites were mainly used in verification of applications for passport and government jobs.