Dutch courage and fake alarms: Telangana man nabbed after 77 prank calls to Dial 100

Sangareddy police arrested a man who made 77 fake emergency calls over six months, often alleging suicide or missing family members. Using a single mobile phone, he misled police until they tracked his device and took him into custody

Sangareddy: For the police, every Dial 100 call could mean a real emergency—until one man turned the helpline into a theatre of deception.

It was a bizarre case of relentless nuisance that ended only with the arrest of a man who was driven by dutch courage to make calls to police and literallly get on their nerves. The six-months-long nuisance came to an end with the arrest of Nayakini Suresh (23), a resident of Pedda Mubarakpur village in Sirgapur mandal. Suresh, it was said, had made 77 fake emergency calls over a period of six months. Most of these calls, made late at night and under the influence of alcohol, severely disrupted emergency response operations and diverted police resources.

Using his mobile phone, Suresh fabricated dramatic stories to prompt urgent police action. At times, he claimed he was on the verge of suicide; on other occasions, he alleged his wife had gone missing or abandoned him. Each time, police personnel rushed to the reported location—only to find no emergency at all and the complainant missing.

After months of wasted efforts, the vexed police decided that enough was enough. They finally traced the source of the calls through his phone. Placing him under surveillance, they tracked his movements and nabbed him on Friday.

“This isn’t just mischief—it’s a serious abuse of an emergency service,” said Sirgapur Inspector Venkat Reddy, who warned that police would take strict action against anyone misusing Dial 100 in the future.

The pranksters calls highlight the growing menace of misuse of emergency systems, where a false call could delay a timely response for someone truly in need.