Mumbai: With the Omicron threat looming large, the Mumbai Police has issued prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) banning the assembly of five or more persons, protests, marches or rallies till Sunday night. It will also cover movement of vehicles.
''The Mumbai Police Commissioner has imposed a curfew and meetings and rallies have been banned in the city. We have also requested the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen not to hold a rally in the city in the wake of the rising Omicron cases,’’ said Home Minister Dilip Walse-Patil.
The order, which came into effect from midnight Friday-Saturday, was issued by Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations), and shall be in force till midnight (Sunday-Monday). Violators shall attract action under IPC Section 188 and other legal provisions, it added.
"The order has been issued to prevent endangering human life from Omicron, as well as a threat to the law and order situation against the backdrop of the violence that took place in Amravati, Malegaon (Nashik) and Nanded," said the order.
The Omicron variant cases in the state rose to 17 after seven new patients were detected on Friday. Of them, three were detected in Mumbai, all male, aged 25, 37 and 48, with recent travel history to the United Kingdom, South Africa and Tanzania.
The four new patients, including a three-and-half-year-old child, in Pune, are the close contacts of an Indian-origin Nigerian woman who was declared Omicron positive last Sunday.
Meanwhile, AIMIM MP Imtiyaz Jaleel, who had left Aurangabad to participate at the rally, despite being stopped by the police, entered the city and attended the Tiranga rally at Chandiwali in north west Mumbai. AIMIM leaders claimed that the Maha Vikas Aghadi government was not keen to provide 5% reservation to Muslim community in education. They warned that their fight will continue till reservation is provided.
