Cauvery row: How cops fought violence rumours

BENGALURU: When violence erupted in some parts of the city recently , Sumathi (name changed) was worried about the safety of her schoolgoing son. With many rumours floating around, she could not decide on sending the class III student to school. To get a clear picture, Sumathi sent a query to Bengaluru police using the Twitter hashtag #citysafe. Much to her surprise, officials replied to her in two minutes, saying the city is safe.
Since its launch, Bengaluru police has 23,01,073 followers, one of the highest among law enforcement agenicies in the country.During the crisis, not just residents, many people from across the country who's relatives live in the city used #citysafe.
"Our aim is to stop rumours that are creating chaos among public in the time of violence like the one we witnessed during the recent Cauvery agitation. We have come across many false posts on social media. To update public on the prevailing conditions, we came up with the social media tool and it's working well," a police officer said.
Additional commissioners, deputy commissioners, assistance commissioners of police and other officials are linked to #citysafe. "Any query on the situation in a sensitive locality will be answered by jurisdictional officers," he said.
Many education institutions, especially those in west and north division, are making use of #citysafe. The hashtag will be linked to other social media forums, including Facebook, WhatsApp and police control rooms.