People flock to border areas despite lockdown in Ghaziabad, 70 FIRs registered

Ghaziabad: The district police were in for a rough day on Monday as hundreds of people arrived at the Delhi-Ghaziabad border in the morning to cross over to the

Ghaziabad: The district police were in for a rough day on Monday as hundreds of people arrived at the Delhi-Ghaziabad border in the morning to cross over to the national Capital, even as governments of Uttar Pradesh and Delhi had imposed lockdowns in both places due to the Sars-Cov-2 outbreak.

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“Monday was probably the toughest day for the police when officers had to ask people and even plead with them to return to their homes. In the morning, dozens of private vehicles had lined up near the barricades put up at the Delhi-Ghaziabad border. A lot of time was consumed pursuing each and every commuter, convincing them to return home,” said Rakesh Mishra, circle officer (Sahibabad).

According to him, commuters cited a variety of reasons why they wanted to cross over. “There were many who came and told cops that they needed to go as there had been a death. Others wanted to go to their friends’ houses,” said Mishra.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday evening had announced a three-day lockdown in 16 districts, including Ghaziabad and Gautam Budh Nagar in the wake of the Coronavirus outbreak.

Apart from the barricades at the borders with Delhi, the police had also barricaded the major internal roads and crossings of the district, such as the ones in Mohan Nagar, Vasundhara crossing, RDC flyover and near Tulsi Niketan, in order to dissuade movement of people towards border areas.

“There were a lot of prolonged arguments and we had to run after people to convince them to return to their homes by talking to them, while maintaining distance from them. When talking and pleading did not work, we had to tell them that legal action would be taken against them if they do not follow lockdown guidelines. Only those persons involved in essential services and vehicles involved in supply of essential commodities were allowed to pass after proper screening,” he added.

The queues were witnessed mostly at Mahrajpur border, more commonly known at Anand Vihar border.

“I had come to my parents’ house, who live in Ghaziabad, with my children during their vacations, after which the janta curfew call came, which was followed by the three days’ lockdown. On Monday morning, me and my brother started from Ghaziabad towards Delhi but had to return as many vehicles were lined up at the border and the cops were not allowing anyone to move through. Now, I will return to my home in Delhi only after the lockdown is over,” said Vineeta Verma, a resident of Bhiwani in Delhi.

Then there were many from Nepal who wanted to board buses back to their homes but could not cross over, as is case with Dashrath Kumar, a Nepal resident who spent his day on a footpath in Ghaziabad. The UP state road transport corporation has stopped bus services, including inter-state services, for the three-day lockdown period.

“There are many Nepal residents here, and some of us had gone for a vacation to Goa. We came to Ghaziabad Sunday evening and since then we have been putting up on the road outside the Kaushambi ISBT in the city. There is no bus available and we are also not allowed to move to Delhi. There are about 300-400 people who are from Nepal who have been left stranded at the border area,” he added.

Similar scenes were witnessed at other border areas the district shares with Delhi, Baghpat and Meerut.

“We had no other option but to take each travel excuse on face value, when people told us of their various reasons for crossing over. A lot of enforcement action was taken and we expect things to settle down from Tuesday. We have sealed and barricaded the different borders Ghaziabad shares with Delhi, Baghpat and Meerut,” said Neeraj Kumar Jadaun, superintendent of police (rural).

“We have also disallowed any non-essential vehicle from the Eastern Peripheral Expressway coming into our areas from Duhai and Dasna interchange,” he added.

In order to enforce the lockdown guidelines, senior police officials ordered for lodging of FIRs against violators who came out for non-essential travel.

“On Monday, we had to resort to legal action and ended up lodging about 70 different FIRs, in which about 200 erring persons were booked under Section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Indian Penal Code. There were some out on the streets who were issued penalties for traffic violations. A total of 1,440 fines were issued,” said Kalanidhi Naithani, senior superintendent of police (SSP), Ghaziabad.

“The legal action was taken as people acted irresponsibly and took up non-essential travel despite restrictions. Some also opened operations of their shops selling non-essential items. They must act responsibly as lockdown is a serious decision taken in public interest and also to prevent any outbreak of Coronavirus,” he added.