Cases of lockdown violations drop; Maharashtra Police claims citizens more cooperative

Four days after Maharashtra Police collected ₹53 lakh in a single day from those found violating lockdown regulations, both, the number of cases registered and fines

Four days after Maharashtra Police collected ₹53 lakh in a single day from those found violating lockdown regulations, both, the number of cases registered and fines collected, has come down drastically. Between July 8 and 9, police in the state registered only 315 cases as compared to an average of over 1,000 cases per day.

HT Image

From March 22, when the lockdown was imposed across the state, till July 8, Maharashtra Police collected a total of ₹11,54,63,987 in fines from lockdown violators. Between July 8 and 9, the amount collected rose to by just ₹18,300, according to data shared by Maharashtra Police.

The data also shows that no arrests were made for lockdown regulations on July 9, while only three vehicles were impounded. Since the start of the lockdown till July 8, Maharashtra Police have arrested 29,793 violators and seized 88,783 vehicles in total.

Vinayak Deshmukh, assistant inspector general of police (law and order), attributed the drastic decrease in cases and fines collected to citizens cooperating with lockdown regulations. “People have become more aware and are cooperating with us in Maharashtra,” said Deshmukh.

Neither the Maharashtra director general of police nor the inspector general of police (law and order) responded to HT’s calls and messages. However, Thane police commissioner Vivek Phansalkar said, “We have continued to take strict action against people who are found unnecessarily loitering, and the cases have not gone down in Thane.”

Mumbai Police spokesperson and deputy commissioner of police, Pranaya Ashok said, “Initially, we had to be very strict on anyone found violating lockdown regulations. Nakabandhis and patrolling are still on, but people have become much more aware and are cooperating with us.”