E-Paper
Karnataka rules out relaxation of lockdown after attack on health workers
The Karnataka cabinet on Monday decided to continue the current lockdown measures in force till May 3 without any relaxation in the state after initially hinting
The Karnataka cabinet on Monday decided to continue the current lockdown measures in force till May 3 without any relaxation in the state after initially hinting that curbs would be lifted in phases.
“It has been decided that there would be no relaxation in lockdown which is on currently. The existing arrangements will continue,” chief minister B S Yediyurappa told reporters.
Primary and secondary education minister Suresh Kumar at a briefing in the evening said, “It was a unanimous decision to continue the lockdown. If required we may revisit the decision after 4-5 days. Right now we have decided to go ahead with the current restrictions till May 3.”
Follow coronavirus latest updates here.
The decision came as the government reviewed the situation following an attack late Sunday night on health workers and civic administration officials by some residents of Padarayanapura ward in Bangalore. Videos of the incident went viral shortly after the incident.
The health workers had gone there to shift to quarantine several primary and secondary contacts of some of members of the Tablighi Jammat who had attended its congregation in Delhi last month and had tested positive for Covid-19. They were to be shifted to hotels designated as quarantine zones. The area where these people lived is very densely populated and has been declared as a ‘red’ containment zone in the city.
The health workers and some BBMP (civic body) staff apart from a few police officials were seen being attacked by a mob.
An upset Yediyurappa condemned the attack and damage to public property saying such acts would not be tolerated and those guilty would be brought to book under law.
On Monday morning, police arrested 59 people including a woman rowdy sheeter called Firoza. Home minister Basvaraj Bommai said that five FIRs have been registered and that cases have been registered under the Disaster Management Act. All the arrested people will be handed over to the Crime Branch of the police for further investigation and prosecution, sources said.
Minister Suresh Kumar said that the state was contemplating bringing in an ordinance on the lines of those in Uttar Pradesh and Kerala to confer special powers to the government to enforce containment measures and also provide protection to health workers. The UP ordinance also ensures that those who destroy government property are made to pay for it, while the Kerala one provides for imprisonment of up to two years and a fine of up to Rs 10,000.
“We are examining similar legislation by other states and will bring an ordinance in the state in this regard,” he said.
The incident also has led to a political slugfest with several BJP leaders saying that the local MLA had a hand in the violence. Former minister and Congress MLA B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan who represents the area, however, denied having a role in the violence. “I had asked the officials not to go in the evening/night and that I myself would help them in the morning,” he said.
Yediyurappa hit back at Khan saying, “Who is he to dictate whether officials should go to an area of not?”
Former chief ministers Kumaraswamy of the Janata Dal (Secular) and Siddaramiah of the Congress too backed the government and said action should be taken against whoever was responsible for the violence on Sunday night.
Eighteen new cases of Covid-19 emerged in the state on Monday, taking the total number of affected people to 408 out of which 112 have been discharged and 16 have died.
