Ghaziabad: Unidentified caller makes 83 hoax calls to police, booked

Police in Ghaziabad have lodged a first information report (FIR) against an unidentified person who has been giving them a tough time since June by making hoax calls to the police helpline, senior officers said on Monday, adding that they are yet to identify the person, whom they suspect is a woman.

In early June alone, the person made 83 calls within a fortnight, pretending to be intimating about varying incidents when in reality nothing of that sort happened at the places she mentioned, they said. Police believe that the suspect’s name is Juhi Sharma.

On Saturday (July 6), police registered a suo motu FIR against the caller under the Indian Penal Code sections 203 (for providing false information related to offence) and 186 (for voluntarily obstructing any public servant in the discharge of public functions) at Loni police station.

“The caller, whose mobile number has been identified, has given various calls to Dial112 in the first fortnight (1 to 16) of June. As per details available with us, in all, 83 calls were made from the same number, said Suryabali Maurya, assistant commissioner of police (ACP), Loni circle.

“The caller raised different complaints on Dial112. These calls were related to thefts, domestic violence and even an attempt to murder by a man on his wife. When police PCRs would reach the incident location as told by the caller, and would find nothing,” he said.

Officials in the know of the development said several of these calls were raised under the jurisdiction of Sihani Gate, Kotwali, Kavi Nagar, Nandgram and Loni police station areas.

According to the initial investigation, the caller would mention different locations across Ghaziabad. During an analysis, the Dial112 teams spotted that several of these fake calls were made from the same number, officers said.

“Once the police teams reached the mentioned locations, they would find nothing, and even locals would deny any such incident. Thereafter, the mobile number of the caller would get switched off,” Maurya said.

“Once any caller dials Dial112, the caller’s location is not traced, it is verbally told to the operator,” said the ACP, adding: “Such fake calls not only cause inconvenience to the police but also ends up diverting resources away from where they are most needed.”

Officers said that all the calls were made from a single number but under different names.

“Our teams are trying to trace the caller and we are analysing the electronic evidence in the case. The caller could be a man or woman, and will be identified and arrested soon,” said Vivek Chandra Yadav, deputy commissioner of police, rural.