Lockdown haul: Noida police collect ₹5.92 lakh in fines, penalise 57,961 vehicles
Police commissioner Alok Singh said over 7,000 people in the district were arrested for breach of peace. “Since the lockdown was announced on March 25, we have seized 1,845 vehicles that were plying in the district without passes or valid reasons
The Gautam Budh Nagar police has penalised 57,961 vehicles under the Motor Vehicle (MV) Act and collected over ₹5.92 lakh in fines from them for various violations of the nationwide lockdown to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
Police commissioner Alok Singh said over 7,000 people in the district were arrested for breach of peace. “Since the lockdown was announced on March 25, we have seized 1,845 vehicles that were plying in the district without passes or valid reasons. As many as 1,994 cases against 8,416 people were registered under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code, which deals with disobedience to an order duly promulgated by a public servant,” he said.
Singh further said during different phases of the lockdown -- the country is currently in the fifth phase -- the police have checked 1,92,864 vehicles. “Of them, fines against 57,961 vehicles were issued, while 1,845 others were seized. Till Thursday evening, the police have collected ₹5,92,500 in fines imposed on these vehicles,” he said.
The police chief also said so far, they have filed five cases of misuse of social media and booked five persons in connection with spreading fake news. “Keeping a close watch on the black marketeers, we have lodged as many as seven cases under the Essential Commodities Act against nine shopkeepers resorting to black marketing during the lockdown. Five of them have already been arrested,” he said.
Talking about the Noida-based security and fire safety solutions company, Ceasefire, which became a super spreader of Covid-19 till the third week of April, Singh said till then, of the total 162 employees of that company, 57 ha contracted the virus. “By the time, the police started containing the spread, the employees had spread the virus to persons in Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan, besides districts in Uttar Pradesh such as Meerut, Bulandshahr and Ghaziabad. But, we successfully traced all direct and indirect contacts of these employees,” he said.
Singh said his force has started creating a database of everyone who lives or works in the district to trace Covid-19 cases systematically. “We are maintaining the chain of sources as even a minor break in this chain could worsen the situation,” he said.
Giving details about Tablighi Jamaat members, whose congregation in Delhi’s Nizamuddin in mid-March was identified as another super spreader, the police chief said altogether eight cases had been lodged against 74 persons, under sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 269 (negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) and 270 (malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) of the IPC and Section 54 of the Disaster Management Act. “Of the 74 members and their contacts, only three tested positive for Covid-19,” he said.
The police chief said aerial checking is also being done with drones in containment zones. “We have issued fines in 158 cases of violations of lockdown norms, based on reports given by these drones. The drones have also found 1,119 persons not wearing masks and they, too, have been fined,” he said.