Cuttack: As many as 496 people have been booked in Cuttack city under Cuttack Municipal Corporation within last 24 hours for various COVID-19 lockdown violations, police said.
Out of the 496, 337 were booked for violating social distancing norms while 159 were booked for not wearing masks. The violators have been charged with fines under Section 96 (d) of the Odisha Police Act, tweeted DCP of Cuttack, Prateek Singh.
During our daily enforcements for #SocialDistancing & #FaceMasking to contain #COVID19 pandemic, 337 & 159 persons were booked respectively under OUPA Act for violations within last 24 hours. @CMO_Odisha @DGPOdisha @odisha_police @MoSarkar_Odisha @SarangiSudhansu @cpbbsrctc pic.twitter.com/0W81i7JO1e
— DCP CUTTACK (@dcp_cuttack) July 19, 2020
According to a senior police officer, a number of people were caught breaking lockdown rules. Many were seen in the markets pushing and shoving each other to buy vegetables and dairy products violating social distancing norms.
“Some people and youths were also caught for not wearing masks. While we are repeating again and again that masks can save us from the deadly COVID-19 virus, the people in the city are yet to understand the importance of masks,” added a cop.
Meanwhile, police have again urged residents to walk to local markets for buying essentials and maintaining a six-feet distance from each other. They said there is no shortage of vegetables and groceries and people should not act on rumours.
City cops further reiterated that they stand prepared to help the needy.
Notably, Odisha Government had announced a complete lockdown in four districts – Ganjam, Khordha, Cuttack and Jajpur and in Rourkela Municipal Corporation (RMC) area from Friday 9:00pm considering that 66 per cent of the total COVID-19 cases in the state belong to these places.
PNN