Work hit as Punjab Police’s Saanjh website crashes

In a major inconvenience to the public, the Punjab Police’s Saanjh portal, through which people can file police verification and passport-related requests, has been down for the last two days.

The site ppsaanjh.in had crashed on Wednesday morning and remained inaccessible at the time of going to print on Thursday.

The site also allows people to report their missing phones and other documents.

Manjit Singh, a resident of Civil Lines, said he had lost his wallet, containing a driving license, PAN card, Aadhaar card, and debit and credit cards on the way to his office. He tried to report the loss on the Saanjh website but failed. He then visited the Saanjh Kendra near his house. “But even employees said they could not help as the website was down. I have been asked to visit again once the website gets operational,” he said.

Police officers too are facing problems. With the site down, departments are unable to upload copies of FIRs, reports on missing persons, or details about unidentified bodies — all of which are routine but essential services.

The SHO of a police station in Ludhiana, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said as they are unable to upload FIRs and other reports, they will have a large backlog of pending work once the website starts running again.

When contacted, additional deputy commissioner of police (traffic) Gurpreet Kaur Purewal claimed she was unaware of the issue. “Sometimes websites crash or are taken down for upgrades,” she said.

Attempts to reach senior officers, including special director general of police (Special DGP) Gurpreet Kaur Deo and ADGP (modernization), proved futile. Multiple calls and messages went unanswered.

As of now, no official statement has been issued by Punjab Police regarding the cause of the crash or when the website will be restored.