Director General of Police (DGP) Dinkar Gupta said that joint teams of Punjab Police have issued at least 6,531 challans to face mask violators and arrested 629 persons for violating the Covid-19 norms across the state over the past three days.
The DGP, while disclosing data from May 2-4, said Punjab Police had registered around 560 FIRs against those found flouting the guidelines, including owners of prominent hotels, marriage palaces, restaurants, shops etc.
The DGP said besides issuing fines, police have taken over 66,000 face mask violators to undergo RT-PCR testing under the drive to enforce Covid-19 appropriate behaviour. Since the special drive was started from March 19, 2021, the Punjab Police have persuaded over 6.9 lakh people to undergo Covid-19 testing, besides penalising over 1 lakh people across the state for not wearing face masks, he added.
A spokesperson said Tarn Taran Police have booked owners of restaurant Arabian Kebab and Master Burger for defying night curfew timings, besides booking a petrol pump owner, when most of his employees were found without a mask. The DGP exhorted the public to comply with restrictions, which were similar to those laid down in 15 other states.