The story of the actress started with a group of school children, who were her fans, ringing her up. "She entertained their calls affectionately. But they gradually turned nasty, compelling her to complain to the police," a police officer said. "It was an adolescent caper."
The Phone Threat Unit, until four months ago, used to keep track of phone details in connection with kidnappings and cases of extortion. Now its attention is directed to complaints about youngsters found tormenting others thorough phone calls and text messages.
As mobile phones became handy gadgets over the past few years, the trend of misusing this modern means of communication has been on the rise among youngsters. Seven complaints now being looked into by the Unit seem to be linked to youthful mischief.
A post-breakup brawl in which the boy does not stop approaching the girl and a fall-out between close friends threatening each other are cases that the Unit settled recently. "One case was so complicated and funny that it could make the storyline for a movie," the official said.
Besides cases of mischief and whimsical pranks, youths also seem to have used mobile phones to mislead parents over their absence from home and to extort money from their own families in mock kidnappings. According to investigating officers, their efforts in such cases usually have a funny ending.
"These are a social problem which is surfacing chiefly because children are left unchecked over how they use communication facilities," DSP Sher Bahadur Basnet, who looks after the anti-kidnapping cell at the Division, said. "Families should play their role to make children aware about the proper use of communications devices."
While the Metropolitan Police has been claiming that cases of extortion and threats over the phone by criminal groups have largely declined, personal bickering and bitterness vented over the phone are increasingly coming to police attention. "It might even be tit for tat and youths are up front," said one official. "Before this, we would receive complaints almost daily about criminal involvement."
According to investigating officials, minor irregularities in distributing SIM cards have complicated the investigation of telephone threats. "If all the companies maintain proper documentations of their users including a valid and owner-verified landline number as reference, such cases could be solved fast," they say.
"Everything has two sides. It is good that there is a revolution in communications. To neutralize the dark side, we need awareness and social checks," Basnet said.
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