The novel coronavirus lockdown appears to have brought out the best and the worst in people, and no one, it would seem, is exempt. From stories of how people are going out of their way to help others, to over-zealous and at times harmful reactions -- there have been many an incident.
On Tuesday we added another to the list, after police officials in Ahmedabad were seen upturning the carts of vegetable vendors. In the videos the vendors can be seen dispersing as the officials arrive on the scene. However, it does not end their. Uniformed police officials then proceed to walk up to the carts and upturn them so all the produce scatters on the road.
A video of the incident was shared on Twitter by several people including India Today journalist, Shiv Aroor. In the post he added that the Ahmedabad Police Commissioner had suspended an Inspector and other officials in response.
Responding to another Twitter user, Dr Shamsher Singh, the Additional DGP, CID crime of Gujarat wrote on Twitter that such conduct "can never be tolerated". Singh also asked the Gujarat DGP to suspend the officials immediately.
In a later post he said that "strict action has already been taken against these cops". According to reports instructions have been given to suspend Krishnanagar PI Vishnu Chowdhury and the other officials involved in the incident with immediate effect.
This is not the first instance where police officials have gone after vendors who were selling their wares amid the lockdown. Videos from the Delhi-NCR region had earlier shown policemen meting out similar treatment.
It must be mentioned that fruits and vegetables fall under the essential services category and are thus exempt from the lockdown. However, with several states having put in measures to curb gatherings, it is not clear if these vendors were operating with permission.
Nonetheless, at the time when thousands remain worried about their livelihood, food supplies being wasted in such a manner did not sit well with netizens. Many took to social media sites to condemn the incident, while others tagged officials t bring the incident to their notice.
