Ranchi, Feb. 5: Abductions and bomb threats from anonymous callers have sent police into a tizzy but cops of the capital still do not find it necessary to install caller identification devices in their work stations.
Following a tip-off from an anonymous caller, the recovery of half-a-dozen country-made bombs from the Assembly premises has again raised the issue of whether it was time for the police department to modernise its police stations.
According to police sources, none of the 17 police stations in the capital has a caller-ID device, let alone those in remote areas.
However, offices of the senior superintendent of police, the city superintendent of police, police control room and common police number 100 have been installed with the caller trace devices, sources said.
Director-general of police Rajiv Ranjan Prasad agreed that call-tracing devices should be installed in key police stations in the wake of abductions, ransom calls and false alarms.
But no one from the department has raised the demand for the installation the devices in the police stations, he said, adding that the demand has to come from police superintendents.
Prasad added that it was, however, neither possible nor practical to equip the 350 police stations with a caller identification device.
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) sources said the caller identification facility was available in Ranchi since 1999. In the first four years, Rs 50 was charged for the caller-ID facility, but now a call-tracer set is available without additional charges, sources said. Caller identification sets are easily available in the market, he added.
Asked if the police department had applied for a caller identification facility, BSNL commercial officer Jagdish Jha Jagat said there was one application last year for the 100 number.
However, he refused to comment how many times the police asked the telephone department to trace certain calls that were received at the stations.
He added that equipping a telephone set with a caller identification device has been simplified.
“We receive an average of 12 to 15 applications everyday for caller identification facility. Since last year, about 3,000 customers have availed of the facility,” he said.
According to a dealer of caller ID telephone sets in Ranchi, the “Samay” brand priced at Rs 790 is in great demand.
The other brand “Betel”, which costs Rs 1,100, is also sought after. Both have a capacity to store 52 telephone numbers in their memory. Siemens sets are also available at a higher cost. Besides, separate ID sets installed along with the regular telephone sets are also available in the grey market and cost anywhere between Rs 350 and Rs 400. These can be purchased from the Daily Market.
