The lockdown has not kept sports stars and tinsel world heroes idle. You can find world champion in shuttle badminton P.V. Sindhu, actors Nikhil Siddarth and Adivi Sesh, and woman activist Prabhavathi join hands for a cause, that too in the virtual space?

Wednesday saw an interesting spectacle unfold on the premises of the A.P. Police Headquarters, where they came together online to take part in the launch of a helpline in these times of fake news flooding the cyber space.

The brain child of DGP D. Gautam Sawang, the WhatsApp helpline was aimed at providing relief to those being bullied and abused on the social media, or being involved in the circulation of fake news.

Additional Director of Police, Crime Investigative Department, P.V. Sunil Kumar, said anyone who was being subjected to trolling and derogatory remarks could now key in their complaint on WhatsApp to 9071666667. The details of the complainant would be kept confidential and a dedicated team would track down the IP address of the social media post and take action.

“Stay safe, stay smart, dispel fake news, cyber bullies. The AP Police will hunt down any one who thinks he can post a derogatory comment and get away with it,” said Mr. Sunil Kumar saying that the facility was an addition to the existing laws such as Section 66 of the IT Act and other IPC sections under which the guilty could be punished.

Additional DG, Law and Order, Ravi Shankar Ayyinaar, and Additional DG Harish Kumar Gupta were present.

Launching the facility, the DGP said that the AP Police had been in the forefront of using technology and added that personal dignity of all individuals was at stake due to intensive trolling.