Senior superintendent of police Alok Kumar addresses a meet on the helpline facilities in Patna. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

n February 2011: A CRPF jawan shoots a national-level kabaddi player Manisha Devi to death at Moin-ul-Haq Stadium before shooting himself after she resisted his advances.

n April 2011: A 12-year-old girl picked up from her home by five persons and gangraped in a secluded place.

n A girl from Bengal beaten and gangraped by a group of men.

n May 2011: Fifteen-year-old Rohit Kumar found murdered in a borewell in Khagaul. Investigations reveal he was killed by two of his friends who had abducted Rohit to coerce money out of his parents just to have some fun.

These are just few of the crimes committed in the state capital in the past few months. But according to the police, crime chart will surely take a dip if the police helpline is used in time of need. If they are to be believed, the various police helpline numbers, aimed at helping the residents, have been climbing the popularity chart.

For instance, the Women’s Helpline, earlier named the Women’s Cell, aimed at putting a stop to crime against women, have been getting calls not only from the state capital or the districts but also from countries like Dubai. The police claim as many as 300 cases have been solved in the past three months.

Patna senior superintendent of police (SSP) Alok Kumar said: “The Women’s Helpline, which was formed three months ago, has done a very good job so far. In the past three months, 378 cases related to women have come before the service, of which 300 have been dealt with successfully. The nature of the complaints range from eve-teasing, sending lewd messages, giving blank or crank calls to women and problems between married couples.”

The SSP said those in need of help can call or send a text message to 9470001390. Ninety-nine per cent of the cases were lodged through phone or text messages, the officer said.

The SSP said in cases of sending lewd messages or giving crank calls, 80 per cent of the culprits were found to be youths between the age group of 18 and 25 years. In most of the cases, they promised never to repeat such actions when the police called them, the officer said.

He added: “There are many in Dubai and Saudi Arabia who gave got the number from the Internet and have called the helpline to give information about their relatives back here. Calls are also coming from Ranchi, Delhi and Haryana. The calls are not even just centred in Patna but are coming from other districts like Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur, Begusarai and others.”

Complainants to the Women’s Cell also seemed satisfied. A middle-aged woman said: “My husband was threatening to leave me as I had given birth to two girls. I was being abused all the time. At last I approached the Women’s Helpline and they took care of everything. We are leading a contented life now.”

The Police Helpline service (9470001389) has also dealt with 153 complaints in the past three months, the SSP said.