The joint commissioner of Guwahati police, Partha Sarathi Mahanta on Saturday released two helpline numbers for the people for any kind of assistance.

Addressing the media at a gathering, JCP Mahanta said that there has been a worrying rise in cases of suicide in the city. In that regard, the Guwahati police released two helpline numbers, he said.

Mahanta said, “We had earlier released a helpline number on which we have received numerous calls seeking our assistance.”

The joint commissioner of police highlighted that cases of suicide in Guwahati had almost doubled since 2013.

He said that the number of recorded cases of suicide in 2013 was 222 which decreased to 220 in 2014. In 2015, the number of cases went up to 241 but again climbed down to 227 in 2016.

Then in 2017, there was again a rise in the number of suicide cases which stood at 289 and then at 287 in 2018, Mahanta said.

JCP Mahanta further informed that suicide cases dropped to 254 in 2019 and marginally went up to 277 in 2020.

However, in 2021 the number of reported cases of suicide shot up to 441, almost double the figures reported in the past, he added.

The Guwahati joint commissioner of police said that two numbers – 6026900574 and 6026900552 – will be available for the people to contact in case of any kind of problems.

People will be able to call on the numbers or get in touch via WhatsApp, he said, adding that the identities of the callers will always be kept discreet.