85 violators on average arrested daily during lockdown

Gautam Budh Nagar Police has taken into custody nearly 85 people daily on an average for violating lockdown restrictions, since March 23, when lockdown was imposed in Uttar Pradesh to check the spread of Covid-19. Nearly 72,000 vehicles have also been issued challans during this period for flouting travel restrictions, said a police spokesperson.

A nationwide lockdown was imposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from March 24. However, the Uttar Pradesh government had already announced to impose a three-day lockdown from March 23, which was subsequently merged with the nationwide lockdown.

According to police officials, data from March 23 till June 15 (till 7pm) shows that a total of 8,586 people have been booked under Section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Indian Penal Code(IPC) in 2,045 cases. Of them 7,302 people have been arrested.

“The arrests were made for violating Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPc), which was imposed in the wake of the lockdown. The section bars the gathering of four or more people,” said the police spokesperson. Anyone booked under Section 188 of the IPC can be granted an interim bail as it carries with it a punishment of less than seven years, said the police.

Apart from violating norms of public gathering, police also booked people for not wearing masks, although no separate data are available for this violation.

The police department also carried out checks at 200 barricaded posts in the district, including the border areas. As per the police, they have checked 2.35 lakh vehicles during the lockdown period, of which 71, 879 vehicles have been issued challans for various violations and 1,987 vehicles have been seized so far. The department has collected almost ₹7.2 lakh in fines.

The police spokesperson said that seven cases under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, have also been registered, of which nine people were booked while five arrested.

During this period, the police have permitted the movement of 4,511 vehicles in and out of the district for carrying out essential services.

Officials said due to interstate border restrictions in place, many commuters who did not posses travel permits were asked to return. “Several commuters were asked to return with warnings. However, there were a few who refused to follow the regulations despite warnings. On an average 8-10 such people were either issued challans or booked under Section 188 of the IPC at border points daily,” said Kumar Ranvijay Singh, additional deputy commissioner of police, Zone-1.

So far, 23 police personnel, including the station house officer(SHO) of a city police station, have been tested positive for Covid-19, of whom 17 have recovered while the rest are undergoing treatment.