Twitter chat with Mumbai top cop becomes talk of the town

With 25,000 followers for their Twitter handles — @MumbaiPolice and @CPMumbaiPolice — in four days, police commissioner Ahmad Javed held a 30-minute chat

#ChatWithCP, a Twitter chat with the police commissioner, organised as part of the plan to connect with masses online, got an overwhelming response on Friday. While some were happy to get their issues addressed, some, including victims of the multi-crore NSEL scam, took to attacking the Mumbai police.

With 25,000 followers for their Twitter handles — @MumbaiPolice and @CPMumbaiPolice — in four days, police commissioner Ahmad Javed held a 30-minute chat.

Such was the response that #ChatWithCP was trending (became the most talked about) on Twitter for a while.

The questions ranged from women safety and traffic to moral policing, drug abuse and status of their complaints, among others. “The basic idea behind #ChatWithCP initiative was to create a platform for citizens to connect with the commissioner of police on a virtual medium. Commissioner Javed, too, felt chatting Live on Twitter could assure citizens that they can fearlessly contact the police,” said Dhananjay Kulkarni, DCP and Mumbai police spokesperson.

Some NSEL investors questioned the interrogation in the scam. One of the respondents termed the initiative “a promotional activity, which ignored core issues”.

In response, Javed tweeted, “Investigations are actively underway & being monitored. It is time-consuming, as it involves mandated procedures and processes, involving multiple agencies & geographies. The police are working on completing the investigation and to bring the culprits to book.”

“Many people appreciated the first edition of #ChatWithCP. A few criticised us, but we cannot satisfy everyone,” said Kulkarni.