Bed allotment scam: Emergency response hit by attrition from war rooms

Staff, who reported for work, say some callers are abusive

Emergency response in the city was hit following search operations by the Central Crime Branch (CCB) police, which is investigating the bed allotment scam. A day after police teams raided all eight zonal war rooms, seized data storage devices and questioned staff, a large attrition rate was reported. “Many are youth taken on contractual basis to work in these call centres. The police have not harassed anyone, but these youngsters and their parents are scared. Many have stopped coming, some have quit. We are struggling to keep pace with emergency calls. We hope the situation will return to normal in two days. We are also counselling those working in war rooms,” said a senior civic official, overseeing war rooms in the city. The worst hit was the South zone war room, which saw nearly 40% absenteeism on Thursday. MP Tejasvi Surya and three BJP MLAs had stormed into the war room on Tuesday, and live-streamed the expose. Of the 206 employees working there, they targeted 17 Muslims, who have since been removed from war room duty.