Mumbai Police has registered over 55 new cases against people and booked them under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code for violating prohibitory orders and unlawful assembly on Saturday.
In total, from March 20 to March 28, they have booked and arrested 467 people, wherein 266 people were prosecuted under Section 188 for disobedience of orders. The state government had issued prohibitory orders on March 14 to curb the spread of coronavirus. With these orders, the state had imposed a ban on unlawful assembly, as they shut down bars, pubs, discotheques and gyms in the city.
However, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared a country-wide lockdown on March 24, all private establishments and companies, which were not a part of essential services were asked to remain shut. Those found flouting norms were booked under various sections.
According to the figures released by the Mumbai Police, they have booked a total of 467 people for flouting rules, of which 412 were granted bail and 55 were issued a notice until Saturday.
Police are still on the lookout for 37 people. The offenders were booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including disobedience to order, duly promulgated by public servant (188) and section 115 of the Bombay Police Act for spitting in public. Interestingly, on Saturday, Khar Police also registered an offence against an unidentified person, who circulated a message on social media, claiming that an employee of Noble Chemist chain at Khar was infected with COVID-19 and people should refrain from buying medicines there, said Gajanan Kabdule, senior inspector of Khar Police.
"Till March 28, we had arrested 467 people and registered 266 offences, of which 55 were registered on Saturday alone under section 188," said Mumbai Police public relations officer and Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations) Pranay Ashok.
