4 of Meerut family held for assaulting cops after fake emergency call

Four members of a family, including three women, were arrested here on Tuesday for allegedly assaulting two police personnel after calling emergency 112 number to report a fake matter, officials said.

The personnel -- a constable and a home guard -- were deployed on a police response vehicle (PRV) who had reached out to the family to attend to their emergency call, the officials said.

"Around 11.45 am, an alert call was received on the emergency 112 number of the UP police from Gaavdi Wala neighbourhood in T P Nagar area of the city. The caller, Anil Kumar, had said a DJ orchestra was blaring music very loudly and sought police intervention," the Meerut Police said in a statement.

"When PRV 2W 3779 personnel, constable Pradeep Kumar and home guard Arjun Singh reached there, the locals informed them that no such DJ was playing there and the information was incorrect. The personnel then tracked the caller and reached out to enquire what had happened," it said.

According to the police, when Anil Kumar was questioned, an altercation broke out and he, his other family members and 8-10 unidentified locals gathered and assaulted the on-duty police personnel.

Those involved in the alleged attack on the cops, a video of which surfaced on social media, included Kumar, his brother Subhash, his son Abhishek, father Prakash Kumar, sister Seema, sister-in-law Anjali, and daughter-in-law Kajal, the police said.

Later, a complaint was registered at the T P Nagar police station and Kumar, Seema, Anjali and Kajal were arrested, while others named in the FIR were absconding, the police said.

The FIR has been registered under Indian Penal Code sections 147 (rioting), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 182 (false information to public officer with malafide intentions), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), among others, the police added.

The incident comes within days of the Uttar Pradesh police announcing quick response to curb noise pollution in view of board examinations in the state through the emergency 112 phone service.