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Meta Alert Leads UP Police to Save Student in 16 Minutes

Police credit a 2022 partnership with Meta for rapid alerts that they say have helped save 1,315 people since early 2023.

Overview

  • An alert arrived around 12:45 pm on August 31 after an Instagram post showed pesticide tablets with a suicidal caption, according to Uttar Pradesh Police.
  • The notification was routed to the state police social media centre and escalated to senior officers, with DGP Rajiv Krishna directing immediate action.
  • Using a mobile number shared by Meta, Bareilly police traced the user to a CB Ganj residence and reached within minutes, finding the 20-year-old vomiting and distressed.
  • Officers provided first aid, and the student later told police she had a dispute with an Instagram acquaintance and ingested pesticide kept for wheat crops.
  • UP Police say their Meta-linked alert system has operated since 2022 and has prompted interventions credited with saving 1,315 people from January 1, 2023 to August 25, 2025.