kolkata all 79 police stations in the city including those severely hit by the fresh wave like bhowanipore and kasba have begun accepting complaints on whatsapp to discourage people from crowding police stationslalbazar has now provided each police station with a smartphone with a dedicated number where local residents can lodge complaints and gds by sending their complaints on whatsapp they can also send audio messages as evidence or to lodge a gd in addition any photographs that will be used as evidence can also be forwarded on this number all complaints sent over whatsapp will be deemed as filed and cops will visit the scene of crime as required in specific cases of distress or further query even calls on these numbers will be allowedon saturday two more ips officers along with other kolkata police personnel tested positive for covid19 a total of 296 officials have been affected by covid so far and many have been discharged from hospital this is one more initiative on our part to reduce physical contact said a joint commissionerthe cops though reminded that the use of this number in the beginning will be limited to petty crimes for major crimes our doors will always remain open for complainants said an oc from north kolkata primarily it will be the duty officer who will receive the complaints on whatsapp and then put up entries he will also inform senior officers on serious crimes all the numbers will have the common 8100796 as the initial seven digits the last three digits will denote the particular division and finally the particular police stationlalbazar sources said they had already distributed smart phones to all 79 police stations along with new sim cards we will put out the contact number at the gates and at strategic points for the general public by saturday afternoon said an officer at bhowanipore police station that has reported around 30 covid cases in the last week kolkata police has announced a number of measures to cut down on physical interaction lalbazar has halted the breathalyzer test and asked traffic cops to fall back on citation cases in traffic rather than seizures the brass has also asked cops not to go out of the city for petty raids and ensure that there is social distancing inside lockups the barracks have been divided to cut down on crowding