Police create awareness against rumours of child kidnappings in Belagavi

Hundreds of officers and staff visit villages and towns

Teams of police officers toured villages and towns across Belagavi district to spread awareness against rumours of kidnapping children.

Hundreds of officers and staff are visiting villages to tell residents not to get worried over such rumours. They are holding meetings of groups and telling the people that there is no need to panic as there have not been any instances of kidnapping a child anywhere in the district.

They are also speaking about the problems created by sharing of unverified images and videos.

Officers have organised 1,497 events in 1,266 villages in two days. The events will continue for a few days more.

They have also tied up with the zilla panchayat that helped them employ village heralders. Village panchayat members and officers are organising meetings in temples, schools, community halls and police stations. School teachers have also joined the initiative.

“This is among the confidence building measures that we are taking,’’ said Sanjiv Patil, SP. “We don’t want people taking the law in their own hands or create any problems,’’ he said.

This began after some incidents where villagers stopped, quarreled with or beaten up some persons suspecting them to be child kidnappers. In some cases, villagers took them to the nearest police station, seeking an inquiry.