Gokhale couple attack: Police urges senior citizens living alone to register with the nearest police station

Pune: Jolted by Thursday's brutal attack on an elderly couple inside their bungalow near Parvati foothills, the Pune police have refreshed their appeal to senior citizens living alone to register with the nearest police station to receive instant help in case of an emergency.
An unidentified man, who had befriended 78-year-old Keshav Gokhale and his wife Mrunalini (70) five days ago, assaulted the couple and robbed the elderly lady's gold bangles worth Rs 65,000 on Thursday.
Gokhale and his wife sustained head injuries when the suspect hit him with a bottle on his head and Mrunalini with the pressure cooker's lid. Both sustained head injuries in the attack, but are out of danger, police said.
Deputy commissioner of police (crime) P R Patil said they have started registrations of the senior citizens living alone. "We have distributed identity cards to them and appealed to senior citizens' groups to get their members to register with a police station," Patil said.
The top brass of the Pune police have special teams at all police stations to take cognizance of the complaints of the senior citizens immediately. The team comprises a police officer and two police constables. "The team is in contact with the senior citizens' groups and also visits senior citizens living alone," a senior police officer said.
He added that the top brass of the Pune police is very concerned about senior citizens and their problems. "Following Thursday's attack, the crime branch and the Dattawadi police have been instructed to get cracking on the case," he said.
The officer said they have collected data with help from senior citizens' groups in different parts of the city. "There are about 10,000 senior citizens residing in the city. Of these, 510 live alone and the rest 9,509 live with their families," the officer said.
Police have been giving special attention to those elders whose children live out of Pune. "Our teams regularly visit such senior citizens. We have the e-mail addresses of their children and we do send them updates about the health and the problems their parents face," the officer claimed.
Identity Cards
Senior citizens registered with the Pune police get an identity card. They have been told to carry it with them when they step out. The card has their name, photograph and address, blood group, a contact number of a close relative. It also carried the police control room number, the contact number of the nearest police stations. "So far, we have distributed 2,000 such identity cards," another officer from the crime branch said.
WhatsApp Group
The Pune police are now connected with senior citizens through social media. Police have formed groups of senior citizens on WhatsApp. There are 44 such groups in all the stations in the city and have as many men as 1,356 members. The nodal officer of the police station operates the group of his police station. "Many are active on this group. Along with their problems, they also share thoughts and jokes through WhatsApp," a police officer, who is a member of one such group, said.
Dedicated Helpline
A dedicated special emergency phone number 020-26111103 for the senior citizens has been operational since 2007. Since January, the Pune police have received 1,084 complaints from senior citizens on this toll free helpline number. A police officer from the crime branch said the police control room numbers are usually busy with people making general inquiries and issues related to crime. "A call to this helpline can get senior citizens immediate assistance," the officer said.
Many call for medical issues, electricity problems, bad footpaths, encroachments, LPG cylinders not arriving on time, cheating, bank and telephone related issues. "We take cognizance of these complaints immediately and alert the departments," the officer added.