The Hassan district police are finding it difficult to handle applications seeking travel passes in the lockdown period.
Long queues are common in front of the offices of senior police officers in the district.
The district police had launched an online system to process applications through the police website. However, the department could not handle the rush.
Hassan Superintendent of Police R. Srinivasa Gowda said here on Tuesday that within a day there were 1,000 applications. “Where is the manpower to handle so many applications? I have stopped processing the applications online. At present, we are processing only those submitted in our stations in person,” he said.
The department has decided to take up on priority only those applications seeking passes for medical emergency. “Some people send just a one-line application online saying ‘I want to go home’. We cannot approve such requests,” he said.
According to police officers, some people in their online applications try to convince them by stating that they would die if they were denied permission to travel.
Police officers on Tuesday were seen implementing the lockdown strictly. In some places, the police stopped vehicles and made the travellers do sit-ups. The police wielded lathis to discipline those who violated the lockdown.