Published 21:03 IST, March 31st 2020
COVID-19: UP Police receives requests for samosa, pizza on helpline number amid lockdown
The UP Police helpline in Lucknow is receiving weird phone calls where people are placing orders for their favourite dish amid the Coronavirus lockdown.
With just a few days down with the Coronavirus lockdown in India, people have started craving for their favorite food items. While there are people who try to control their taste buds, the others are finding out odd ways to get their desires fulfilled. The UP Police helpline in Lucknow is receiving weird phone calls where people are placing orders for their favourite dish and one such incident took place on March 30, where they received an ‘urgent’ request for a ‘rasgulla’ from an elderly caller Ram Chandra Prasad Kesari.
Police getting weird requests on calls
Understanding the situation of the public who have been restricted under strict quarantine, the police officials realized that the phone call demanding sweets was not a prank one.
Santosh Singh, station house officer (SHO), Hazratganj reportedly said that the police reached the house of the caller, Kesari, with six rasgullas and found out that the old man was alone at home and was in a condition of hypoglycemia (low sugar condition). He is diabetic, his face was pale and could not move. After eating some amount of rasgullas, the old man became normal.
Apart from this, another incident of such a sort happened in Rampur on March 29 where a man had sent an SOS to the police demanding four samosas ‘with chutney’. After he made several calls to the officials, the police provided him with four samosas but as soon as he finished with the snack, the district magistrate in return of the favor asked him to clean a drain as punishment.
Justifying his act, Rampur district magistrate Aunjaneya Kumar Singh said that he had decided to shame those who were misusing the facility provided to the people during the lockdown. All those who are caught doing so will be made to sweep roads and clean drains, just the way it was done by the man who asked for four samosas.
The judge further added that they are receiving several calls on their helpline number where people can be heard making bizarre demanding, asking for pizza and samosas. So, to tackle the situation, the police authorities have decided to punish such callers to discourage others who are taking advantage of the situation.
Updated 21:03 IST, March 31st 2020