Police wary of pranksters on April Fool’s

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

* Rescue 15 to verify all calls to ensure that all reports are genuine * Police to register cases against those found guilty of making prank calls to control room

By Muhammad Aayan

LAHORE: As the citizens gear up for a ‘prank-full’ day, the police, Rescue 1122, and all law enforcement agencies are prepared to tackle the pranksters and any untoward incident if one of the planned frivolities go wrong on April Fools’ Day.

Normally hundreds of calls are received by the police’s emergency help-line network, with people reporting fake emergencies that create unnecessary hassle for the police officials. However, this year, law enforcement agencies would take immediate action against those found guilty of reporting fake emergencies or spreading hoaxes.

Verification: Rescue 15 is all set to deal with pranksters this year, as detailed verification would be carried out to ensure that the callers are in a ‘genuine’ need for help. “I am really annoyed by the random SMS claiming that the city is about to be bombed and terrorists are on a rampage. This practice increases manifold on April Fools’ Day, where people randomly message others to create panic,” Fatima, a student of Punjab University told Daily Times.

The youth are the ones behind the majority of the rumours spread on this day. Although jokes that do not cause any trouble are appreciated but creating undue problems for others just for the sake of having a laugh is immoral. Fake emails are also circulated about non-existent issues and spreading untrue sensational news about different celebrities is also quite popular on April Fools’ Day.

“Last year I was woken up by my friend, telling me that he has been severely injured in an accident. I rushed to the hospital and later he told me that he was just celebrating April Fools’ Day. I was enraged and have not spoken to him since”, said Fareed Ahmed, a medical salesman. “This year I am prepared for any pranks, but I strongly disapprove of this practice, as there is already so much going on in life that one doesn’t have the time for unnecessary headaches,” he added.

Security beefed up: Police would register cases against prank-callers due to the tense law and order situation in the country. Senior Superintendent of Police (Operations) Shafiq Ahmed told Daily Times that the security in Lahore has been beefed up due to the Turkish president’s visit and all police officials have been instructed to remain vigilant. He said it was very sad that Lahoris’ idea of having fun on April 1 is to provide wrong information to the police control room because it wastes precious time and would deprive a genuinely troubled person of police assistance.