MP police website stuck in time warp, trips up callers

The official website of the Bhopal police is not up-to-date, displaying incorrect names and has wrong phone numbers of police stations and personnel, making it hard for residents to get it touch with the authorities.

In some cases, the list of police stations and officers is mismatched. The website also gives the incorrect mobile number of a DSP, with the number displayed only consisting of nine digits.

“I had noted down the Nirbhaya helpline number earlier but a few days back, when I called the number in an emergency, the number was unavailable,” said Ritika Mishra, a student. She was unaware that the number has been already changed but was not updated on the website.

According to the police, these details have not been updated on the site due to transfers and promotions of the personnel.

“There have been transfers and promotions in the police department, and the website of the department is under construction, which is the main reason why it has not been updated. But we will soon do so,” superintendent of police (headquarters) Anil Maheshwari said.

An IT expert, on condition of anonymity, told Hindustan Times that updating a contact list on any website does not take more than 15 minutes. “Though the time taken to update the website depends on the quantity of the content and the location of its server, it is not a tiresome job to update a contact list,” the IT expert said.