PANJIM: Whatsapp has unofficially replaced the ‘wireless message’ in the Goa police department. Gone are the days– unofficially at least–when coded wireless messages were sent as call to action. Messages like “Serra1 to November 1” referring to SP South and SP North; or codes like Alpha , Victor, Charlie and Pappa, may not be as critical in sensitive police operations these days.
Now “sharing” and real time communication is done by simply posting on Whatsapp, the net based messaging device which has literally changed the way we live and work.
Monday’s arrest of two youths involved in a murder case in Shirdi is the second arrest where technology proved to be handy to Goa police. Shirdi-natives Vishal Kote, 25, and Rupesh Wadekar, 32, were identified and subsequently arrested from Boca De Vaca, Panjim, through very effective interstate coordination by the police on Whatsapp.
The cross-messaging app had also helped the police trace the Israeli drug peddler who had escaped from IPHB and was caught at Mollem border within two hours of his escape, last week.
In the latest success, Shirdi police had sent the duo’s pictures to Panjim Police Inspector Siddhant Shirodkar’s personal Whatsapp. Their details like call records followed soon after the photos with their names.
“The Shirdi police had information about the presence of the accused in Goa. Their photos were sent to Shirodkar by his batch mate officer of the Nashik Police Training School. This was then shared with the (Goa Police officers’) group and the search began,” North Goa Superintendent of Police Umesh Gaonkar said.
Last week’s arrest of the two foreigners too was through the exchange of messages. Soon after Israeli national Nariya Bendavid – in the custody of Escort cell personnel – escaped from the Institute of Psychiatric and Human Behaviour (IPHB) with the help of his American accomplice Charter Neftali Shmuel, the information was instantly circulated to officers on a common Whatsapp group.
Ponda Traffic Cell PI Nilesh Daigodkar alerted police officers as he was chasing Bendavid at Farmagudi on the Whatsapp group after which a backup force was dispatched. The foreigner was finally nabbed after a frantic two-hour chase at Mollem. “The direction in which Bendavid was running, his photo and other messages were being constantly uploaded on the group,” an officer said.
“Immediate dissemination of precise information helps in speedy action and reaction,” Crime Branch SP Kartik Kashyap, who was among select cops instrumental to ensure the presence of police officers on the trending app, told Herald.
Gaonkar too echoed a similar view adding that information circulated to the force within a few seconds has been helping crack cases.
While there is a common group of all police personnel and officers, there are also specific groups having high-ranking officers on it. For instance, there is a police station-wise group and also an operational group that includes district police, Crime Branch etc.
“We have common as well as specific groups. All depends on what information must go to which group, depending on the situation and specific role,” Kashyap said.
Roughly, around 80 percent of the 5,500-odd force is active on social media including Whatsapp and Facebook.
