Rangers launch WhatsApp helpline

Pakistan Rangers, Sindh have asked citizens to inform them about any unlawful activity on their whatsapp number

KARACHI: Citizens can now sit at home and send a text or audio/video message to the paramilitary force via WhatsApp to the ‘Rangers Madadgar’ number and have the law enforcers arrive at their doorstep.

Pakistan Rangers, Sindh have asked citizens to inform them about any unlawful activity, especially extortion, on their WhatsApp number 0316-2369996 or send an email to [e-mail].



Earlier this year, it was reported that a helpline set up by the country’s premier anti-terrorism watchdog to receive tip-offs about suspicious activity has been choked with hoax calls.

Data available with The Express Tribune shows that of the 58,591 calls received by the National Counterterrorism Authority (Nacta) helpline 1717 between January 9 and December 31, 2015, an overwhelming 57,046 (97.4%) were not about terrorism.

According to sources, most of these calls included people ordering pizza, or requesting songs. They also received an inordinately high number of calls from women who had suffered abuse at the hands of their husbands.

The sources added that of all the calls they had received, a fraction, 1,545 calls were actionable.



Nacta’s helpline, a dedicated telephone line to report terrorism and terror-related complaints, was launched in December 2014 following the attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar on, which had left 147 people dead.

However, like other public helplines such as 16 for the fire brigade and 15 for police, the Nacta dedicated line has continued to face the same problem of hoax or unrelated calls.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 25^th,  2016.