Maha lockdown: Inter-district travel allowed, no need for e-pass

Director-general of police (DGP) Sanjay Pandey on Wednesday said that the people travelling inter-district for important work would not be stopped and such citizens will not need any police permission or e-pass

Director-general of police (DGP) Sanjay Pandey on Wednesday said that the people travelling inter-district for important work would not be stopped and such citizens will not need any police permission or e-pass.

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Pandey said police will not use force if people follow the rules. “We have asked all our unit heads to show maximum restraint while imposing movement restrictions,” said the DGP.

Last year several videos of policemen beating pedestrians and publicly punishing and insulting them for violating lockdown restrictions went viral on social media.

Sensing the anger and frustration among the public, traders and daily wage earners, both the state police chief and the Mumbai Police commissioner have instructed the force to go soft on those stepping out for unavoidable important work.

The state police chief said that a full force of nearly two lakh personnel would be on lockdown duty. In addition to this 22 companies of State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) and 13,280 home guards would be put on lockdown duty as and when required. Mumbai and Nagpur Police have been given three and two SRPF companies, respectively. “We will coordinate with other government agencies to ensure that the spread of the virus is prevented,” Pandey said.

Speaking about the spread of infection among police personnel across the state, Pandey said since the pandemic began last year, a total of 36,728 police personnel got infected by the virus. Of them, 373 have died due to the infection. Presently, 3,160 personnel are infected by the virus, while the remaining have recovered and resumed duty.

Policemen above the age of 50 years with co-morbidities have been asked to take rest.

Additional director general of police Kulwant Sarangal said that 81% policemen in the state have been vaccinated with the first dose, while 41% have received the second dose as well.

As regards to lockdown violations, so far 3.23 lakh FIRs have been registered across the state since the pandemic began last March and 47,302 offenders have been arrested.

Top cop’s directives

Mumbai Police commissioner (CP) Hemant Nagrale has urged the police personnel in Mumbai to adopt a humane approach when dealing with people compelled to step out and to not be ruthless while imposing the statewide lockdown.

Given the unprecedented surge in Covid-19 cases, the government has announced lockdown and night curfew across the state for the next 15 days, starting from Wednesday at 8pm. Against this backdrop, CP has also urged citizens to cooperate and help in battling the deadly infection.

In a video message issued on Wednesday, Nagrale has instructed policemen in Mumbai to not hit, punish poor people venturing out for important work during the lockdown and instead help them. “Adopt a human approach while dealing with such people. Don’t punish them in front of their family members and insult them. Instead, help the needy,” he said. Nagrale has urged policemen to be careful and safeguard themselves from getting infected.